


Morty's Are Only A Reflection Of Their Ricks

by KallikRose



Category: Rick and Morty, Rick x Morty - Fandom
Genre: Assassin Morty, Blood, Gay Morty, Gore, M/M, Mentions of Suicide, No Smut, Paraniod Rick, Sexual Jokes, Slow Burn, Smart Morty, Tough Morty, pocket mortys - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2018-09-26 00:25:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 22
Words: 58,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9853589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KallikRose/pseuds/KallikRose
Summary: “This Morty has seen everything... but has yet to feel the warmth of a loving touch.”Three eye Morty has been through hell. After his parents divorce, Summer running away and his Rick dying of a heart attack, Morty takes his portal gun and goes on the run. He becomes a hitman on an alien planet just to get by. But what happens when he's offered a ton of money to kill a Rick that he can't help but fall in love with?(Basically slow burn Three eye Morty x Four Eye Rick)





	1. Rules Are Only Guidelines

The alien bartender slid Morty his drink, not even giving his extra eye a second questioning glance. Morty dipped his head in a silent thanks before taking a long swig of the burning alien alcoholic drink.

Mortys third eye remained tentatively on the counter while his two eyes instinctively swiveled to follow the bartenders movements. Morty had no clue what kind of alien the half bird/half snake-like bartender was but Morty had been sure to watch carefully when the creature made his drink. He'd been poisoned before and he had no desire to relive that hell again-

“Are you Three Eye Morty?”

The harsh, heavy accented voice caused Morty's hand to instinctively jolt down and reach for the gun hidden on his belt.

The young boy relaxed (slightly) after he turned to see an alien with four tentacles-like arms staring at him expectantly. Morty instantly noted that the creature was dressed rather expensively, which was a rare sight. He kept his one hand on his now displayed gun, making a clear statement that it was a bad idea to mess with him.

But Morty noted that the alien had referred to him as ‘Three Eye Morty’.

  
A huff came out of Morty's mouth as his lips twitching up into a strained smile. Well, at least now he knew that it was going to be one of those days.

  
People only called him Three Eye Morty if they wanted someone dead.

“Yeah, w-who’s asking?” Morty stuttered, annoyance in his voice. He took a casual sip from his drink, eyes trained on the strange alien.

"Well I-"

“Wait, don't answer that.” Morty cut him off, immediately correcting his stupid mistake.

Mortys eyes hardened as his third eye swiveled to look casually around the busy bar. He wondered if their conversation was being listened on… The alien police had been hard on his tail, more so than usual these past few months. But Morty would be damned if he allowed himself to be caught just because he hadn't taken any precautions.

Stop making rookie mistakes, Morty reprimanded himself harshly. There was no room for error when it came to his job.

“Should we-” The aliens already strained smiled only tightened when Morty yet again didn't let him finish.

“I'm-I'm a going outside for a smoke, y-you coming? It's too noisy in here for my taste.” Morty shrugged, trying to act casual even though his nerves were begining to buzz with adrenaline.

The alien took a second, looking at him calculatingly with half lidded eyes before nodding sharply. Morty quickly downed the rest of his drink before tossing a random amount of money on the counter and walking out.

As soon as Morty stepped out into the cold night air, he couldnt help but actually want to smoke. He had gotten fucking addicted to the things and it was such a waste of precious money.

Morty pulled out a cigarette and lit it, not even bothering to offer the alien one before speaking. “So,” Morty blew out a puff of smoke, enjoying the way it burned his lungs,  
“Who sent you?”

“Shetyrp Flurytu." The alien said with narrowed eyes.

Morty visibly stiffened.

Shetyrp Flurytu was one of the biggest mob bosses on this weird alien planet. She was an alien that no one ever dared to double cross unless they had a death wish. The current word on the street was that a week ago she had hung an alien by their four balls in the middle of town.

Morty tapped his fingers absentmindedly against his cigrette.

What did someone as powerful as her want with him? (Well besides you know to obviously kill someone as he was a hitman) Morty wasn't exactly popular but he somehow made enough to just barely scrape by.

“Who do-does she want... t-taken care of?” Morty couldn't keep the suspicion out of his voice.

Why him?

“She wants Rick Sanchez Dimension-”

“No.” Morty stopped the alien, not even giving him to chance to finish his sentence. “You might no-not know but I have ah h-have one rule…” Morty dug his free hand into his pants pocket, his eyes cast to the ground.

“I don't kill Ricks.”

The alien looked at him, seeming… bored by Morty's words? … Almost like he had expected Morty to say that.

“You'd get 500,000 klops… With that you'd finally be able to get out this-” The alien gestured to the rundown bar behind them, “-out of this fucking shitplace and afford to go to a decent bar.”

“I still won't do it.” Morty repeated firmly. “I don't care about the money.”  
That was... a lot of dough… and he could really use it but…

He couldn't kill a Rick.

Not after his own Rick's death years ago. He had treated Morty like a washed up worthless piece of garbage… but he had also been Morty's only friend. It was honestly such a conflicting feeling, Morty didn't even understand it himself.

The alien huffed, giving Morty a look that said ‘yeah right’.

“Okay fine Three Eye Morty, but…” The alien pulled out a small slip of a paper-like material. “Just… Just think about it.” He held out the piece of paper to Morty.

Morty stared at it, not making a move to take it.

After a minute of tense silence, and with the alien still holding out the piece fo paper, it became apparent to Morty that the alien wasn't going to take ‘no’ for an answer. Deciding to finally just end this silly charade Morty swiped it out of the alien's hand.

He spat out and angry, “Fine.”

  
Morty glanced down at the piece of paper in disgust before pocketing it. He didn't care if he was pissing off Shetyrp Flurytu, one of the biggest mob bosses, but he definitely wasn't going to do it.

Well tecniqually couldn't do it.

“Fine, i'll uh t-think about it.” Morty groaned, tossing and smashing his unfinished cigarette under his shoe angrily. His good mood was now long gone and he desperately found himself wanting another drink.

The alien nodded stiffly, “You have 6 hours to give Shetyrp Flurytu an answer. If you say yes, more information will be given to you than.” And with that the alien turned and disapeared into the cold night.

Morty shuffled from foot to foot for a few minutes after the alien had left, trying his best to ignore the perplexing emotions crawling up his throat.

He didn't know what to do next.

Morty couldn't decide whether or not he should go back into the bar and get drunk until he passed out... or go home and stay up all night trying to worrying about whether or not he was actually going to accept the aliens offer.

It was a really tempting to just say yes… but he knew better than to accept hits he couldn't do.

Morty pulled his arms around himself and walked back into the bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was wondering if Morty should refer to himself as Three Eye Morty or just Morty? But I thought it would be more realistic for him to call himself Morty and have Three Eye Morty be more of his hitman codename.


	2. Some People Are So Poor, All They Have Is Money

Morty groaned loudly, not wanting at all to wake up and face reality. 

 

He tried to roll over and go back to sleep but a dull steady pounding in his head refused to let him to be pulled back into dreamland.

 

Ahhh, why… why did his head hurt so much?... 

Cracking open his third eye, the boy seen that a small sliver of purple light was illuminating his otherwise dark room.  _ God _ , Morty groaned internally, eyes trying to blink away his grogginess. 

_ What time is it?  _

The question had him reaching around blindly in the (mostly) dark room for his phone. Morty frowned when his fingers only met with air. Shouldn't it be on the nightstand? He always left it on the nightstand...

Morty's entire body stiffened as he touched something that definitely wasn't his phone. Something scaley, yet also slimey smeared across his hand...

And opening all his eyes, Morty glanced over to see that an alien was curled up next to him. 

… What?

His brain took a few moments to process that there indeed was someone else in his bed and that he wasn't just having another drug induced hallucination. 

Morty poked their weird looking skin

… just in case. 

His finger immediately sank into their slimy skin. Yep, they were solid. And they were… naked. 

Morty glanced down at himself… 

He was naked too… And a quick glance back at the alien confirmed his slow realization. 

“F-Fuck.” Morty cursed sharply under his breath, pulling himself up into a sitting position. His heart began to beat fast in his chest as he tried to piece together what the fuck happened last night.

Was it even morning? Because honestly he felt like he had gotten no sleep.

Now that he was more awake, (His brain-splitting headache was definitely helping with that) Morty now recognized that he was in a hotel room and... most likely had sex with an alien. 

Morty couldn't help but stare at the creature sleeping next to him. 

To be honest, this wasn't the first time this has happened (as Morty got wasted drunk more often than not) but waking up next to random aliens and dealing with the wicked hangovers he always received the next day was starting to grow tiring. It was almost scary how fast it had developed into a routine. 

He prayed that he had at least thought to use protection last night… Could he even get an alien pregnant? 

God… he was becoming exactly like his Rick. 

Morty brought his fingers to his forehead, massaging his scalp lightly. His head still felt fuzzy and his horrible headache was only worsening with every second that passed by. Morty looked around, wondering if there were any pain pills or alcohol that he could grab to nurse the pain. 

Morty snapped out of his thoughts (and jumped a little) when the alien's eyes suddenly blinked opened. Three bright yellow reptile-like eyes warmly looking up at him. Than the creature smiled (or Morty at least thought it was smiling as it was kind of hard to tell when the alien didn't exactly have lips). 

“Oh good morning, why are you up so early?” 

The masculine voice spoke huskily, somehow talking despite not having a mouth (Morty was too hungover to guess how). The alien promptly sat up when he didn't answer, so that they were suddenly straddling Morty before he even had the chance to move away. And before he could protest, the alien began to trail his (he hoped the alien was at least a him. He was gay, not bi) fingers up Morty's naked chest. 

“U-Ummm… Uhh..”

Morty found himself hesitating to stop the alien. He felt so tempted to just fall back in bed and have some fun… even if it didn't last long. Morty felt like he needed another break from life. The alien wasn't too bad looking according to human standards and the creatures three eyes was definitely a big turn on for him. It kind of reminded him of home. 

Morty reached forward awkwardly, letting his fingers feel hesitantly along the aliens glistening scaly back, deciding to push through the pain from his hangover for a little bit of pleasure. The alien responded instantly to his touches, breathing in deeply before pressing their face against his. Morty wondered briefly if it could be considered a kiss since they didn't have lips. But decided he didn't really care. 

It felt good. And that was all that mattered.

After a couple moments of heated kissing (if you could call it that), the alien suddenly pulled back. 

“You can have me for another couple hours if you want some more fun… And if you forgot my rate is 100 klops an hour but you said you were practically rich so that shouldn't be too much at all.” The alien grinned at Morty, all three eyes focused intently on him.

Welp. 

Morty certainly hadn't been expecting that. 

Morty hadn't even thought about the possibility that the alien was a hooker. He had just figured that he had managed to pick up a guy from the bar last night… 

Last night...

Morty pulled back from the alien, freezing his movements. 

He was suddenly overcome with the sensation like he’d forgotten about something important. Something that happened last night. 

_ Did he have somewhere to be?  _

_ Did he… Did he have a hit today?...  _

_ No…  _

_ Maybe he supposed to meet one of his drug dealers? Or did he get in trouble with the police last night? _

Morty got flashes of drinking and dancing… And a four tentacled alien dressed up nicely. 

…

Oh, yeah. 

Now he remembered. 

Mortys face fell. 

He had been given six hours to decide if he would kill a Rick. 

Morty pulled away from the alien.

He was no longer in the mood for sex. 

“Sorry, ah no ca-can do.” Morty said, wiggling himself out from underneath the hooker. “I have some-somewhere I need to be.”

The alien pouted at him but didn't inquire further. 

“Okay.” The alien suddenly spoke in a monotone voice, no longer sexy sounding. 

“That will be 400 Klops than.” The alien got off the bed and shrugged on a small piece of fabric that barely covered their body. They then turned to Morty and held out thier hand, expecting their payment. 

Morty internally cursed. He didn't have any money. What the fuck kind of money did his drunk self last night think he had when he hired a hooker? The creature obviously believed he was well endowed with money, a lie from his drunken self… So at least they didn't know he was broke. 

“Umm, give me a second to find m-my wallet.” Morty lied slipping off the bed ungracefully. He started rummaging through his clothes that laid strewn randomly across the room, trying to take up as much time as he could to think of a plan.

“Whats a wallet?” The alien asked him curiously, pulling out a cigarette from Morty's pack laying on the floor. 

“It's a-a place where humans keep their money.” He responded simply as he quickly slipped on his boxers. “It's similar to a siagfen.” 

Morty carefully picked his shirt up off the floor and laid it over his arm, trying hard to think past his hangover. If he could just find his portal gun than he could get out of here without much hassle… And without paying. 

The alien probably had a weapon hidden somewhere (as hookers needed a way to force people who refused to pay, to pay) and he certainly didn't want to get shot when they realized Morty couldn't do exactly that.

Morty's eyes flashed with relief when he found his portal gun lying under his pants. 

Yes!

He grabbed it frantically, pointing it at the wall before typing in some random coordinates.

It crackled, green lights sparking for a few seconds before... the light vanished. 

And… no portal. 

Morty cursed and internally began to freak out as he realized the dome on his portal gun had come loose. It wouldn't work (safety feature) unless it was securely fastened down. It was a simple fix… if he had the right tools! But currently he only had his pants, underwear and what he thought was his shirt. 

And now a super suspicious hooker that wouldn't hesitate to hurt him if he didn't pay them what he owed was staring at him. 

The aliens three yellow eyes narrowed at him as they ducked to grab something from under the bed. 

A gun, his mind registered. 

And before Morty could even think, he was already lunging at the alien. He brought both his fists down on the arm holding the weapon, successfully causing them to drop the gun before they could even aim it at him. Mortys center eye darted to a nearby potted alien plant and in the next second he had smashed it against the aliens face. 

The alien let out a wail of pain, voice bubbling in agony. They instantly stepped away and covered their eyes with their hands. Blue blood began to seep out from under the alien's fingers and Morty knew from the frantic whimpers of pain that the alien -probably- wouldn't be able to follow him. 

Morty shoved past them, shirt, pants and broken portal gun in his hands. Darting out of the hotel room and into the eerie silent hallway, Morty hoped that the aliens crying didn't alert anyone to come and check out what was happening. 

He didn't need any more deaths on his hands. 

After taking a series of random sharp lefts, blood rushing in his ears as he ran, Morty darted down yet another hallway, trying to put as much distance between himself and the alien in case he was being followed. While listening closely for any sound of footsteps, he desperately tried to find an exit. 

And with Morty's god given luck, when he passed through another hallway, his third eye spotted a rugged run down gift shop. And upon further inspection, aka looking through the window, Morty spotted a screwdriver looking piece lying on a desk.

Morty didn't even hesitate to smash his fist through the fragile glass on the door, praying there wasn't an alarm. The broken glass cut into his hand but the adrenaline pumping through his veins kept him from feeling a thing. When no alarm sounded off Morty quickly got to work. 

With trembling hands, Morty managed to unlock the door from the inside. He threw it open, waiting to be discovered any second by the crazy alien hooker dude with a gun. He snatched the screw driver and ducked behind the desk. 

Being as fast as Morty could be he was able to fix his portal gun within a few seconds despite his shaking fingers. And this time when he pointed it at the wall and pressed the button, it successfully created a portal. 

Morty didn't hesitate to jump through the green swirling oval, heart hammering in his chest like a caged hummingbird. 

He came out the other side floundering and breathing heavily into... another hallway? For a second Morty freaked out at the thought that his portal gun had malfunctioned. 

But than he stupidly realized that he was standing in his own apartment building.

Morty recognized the place by the month's old dead rat smell and by the fact that it was the only apartment building that had only one type of picture covering all the walls. Unicorns. Yes, he knew it was weird… and creepy but it was… home? 

Morty slumped against the wall, letting out a quiet relieved sob.

He willed his heart to stop pounding in his chest long enough for him to catch his breath. Leaning a hand heavily against a door, Morty allowed himself a few minutes to calm down (waiting to no longer feel like he was dying) before standing up shakily and heading to his room. 

He took in calculated breaths. 

He was okay.

Breathe in… Breathe out…

Morty wiped his sweaty forehead with his non-injured hand, before closing his third eye. 

You're okay. He told himself. 

You escaped, again. 

Your fine. 

After going up a flight of creaky stairs, Morty finally arrived at his small one room apartment. 

“Home, sweet home.” He muttered bitterly. 

The thought made Morty chuckle, even though minutes ago he had been running for his life, convinced he had made one mistake too many. 

Morty was about to open the door when he noticed a sticky note (written in some kind of alien language) stuck to his door. Morty sighed, staring at it with a tight frown. He had an invention to convert this language into english somewhere in his room but there really was no need, as he already knew what it said. 

He’s already gotten three this month. 

It probably read something like he was months late on his rent or that he had till the end of the month to pay up. Or maybe that he was getting kicked out soon and yada yada. Same bullcrap. 

Morty already knew he was screwed, he didn't a note to remind him of that. 

Ripping the note off the door, Morty crumpled it up in his fist and threw it to the ground before grabbing his worn key in his pants. He harshly shoved the key into the doors lock and glanced around the apartment he lived in with disgust before stepping into it. 

There were mysterious white and brown stains on all the walls. Clothes (both dirty and ‘clean’) were thrown everywhere because Morty could never find the motivation to pick them up. The mirror in the bathroom was broken. And alien bugs of all kinds roamed as they pleased. His bed was unmade and even missing his one pillow and Morty... Morty honestly hated it. 

But it was all he could afford, the cheapest of the cheap. Morty reminded himself. 

He should be glad that he's not starving or sleeping out on the street. 

Morty plopped down on his unmade bed, burying his hands in his pockets. He was just so tired… 

Mortys fingers shoved his keys back into his pocket, freezing when his injured hand touched the now crumpled up piece of paper resting in it. The same exact piece of paper that held Shetyrp Flurytu’s number if Morty decided that he wanted to make 500,000 klops. 

He needed to stop kidding himself, Morty chuckled darkly. 

He was going to take the deal. 

Because Morty desperately needed the money. 

He really had no choice, did he? Morty glanced out the apartments small window, suddenly feeling years, even decades older. The dim purple sky was anything but relaxing. Just another reminder he wasn't on Earth. But it did tell him that it was barely morning. 

Fear suddenly spiked through Morty at the realization that the purple sun had already started to rise. 

Wait, wh-what time was it! 

Had the six hours he had to answer already passed? 

“Fuck!” 

Morty floundered for his phone, which rested on his nightstand among the empty beer cans and alien alcohol. He snatched it up quickly, frantically pressing the on button. 

3:36 AM, his phone told him. 

Morty counted back six hours in his head. He let out a sigh of relief, he hadn't missed the deadline. It had been around 11 when he meet the alien last night. 

And no wonder Morty hadn’t encountered anyone in the halls, it was like only four in the morning. M had forgotten that the sun rose earlier here than it did on earth. 

Morty had been extremely lucky.

… He hated relying on luck. 

Before Morty could think too hard about it, he typed in the number from the piece of paper into his phone and thumbed a quick, ‘I’ll do it.” And hit send. Morty knew that if he thought about it too much, he'd just end up chickening out. 

Morty flopped onto his bed, shoulders feeling lighter (and heavier) than they had in a long time. 

Not at all surprised in the slightest when after only a few seconds Morty's phone buzzed signaling that he had received a reply. 

He picked it up. 

“Meet me at Wetyy Bar in an hour. We’ll work everything out then.” 

Morty laid back down on his bed, tossing his phone on his dresser, not even bothering to turn it off.

He should probably take a shower shouldn't he? Or at least put on his shirt and pants (since he was still in his underwear)? Or at the very least attend to his bleeding hand but… nah. 

Morty found that he could only stare blankly up at the stained ceiling above him. 

He was going to regret this decision wasn't he?

…   
Yep. 


	3. Fear Is A Powerfull Tool

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just went back and revised my previous chapters, so many mistakes lol.

Morty rubbed at his eyes a little harder than necessary in a vain attempt to get his eyes to stop closing against his will. Morty was absolutely exhausted (Both mentally and physically). And the couple hours of sleep he had gotten before waking up next to a hooker was doing little for him now... And only god knows how many insomniac nights before that.

Morty turned over in his bed, eyes darting to check the time displayed brightly on his phone. Well fuck, he had only five minutes to get to Wetyyr Bar. Which was thankfully just enough time to throw on some decent clothes.

Shoving himself out of bed, Morty instantly began searching for any kind of painkillers that to help his dull headache. Upon finding some kind of alien bottle filled with pills hidden under a pile of clothes, Morty didn't hesitate to pop them in his mouth and swallow them dry. Wiping his mouth with the back of his his hand, Morty curled his lip at the disgusting taste they left in his mouth. But they would have to do.

Morty then proceeded to find the cleanest clothes he owned (Which still weren't very clean) and tugged them on, grimacing when he caught sight of himself in the shattered bathroom mirror.

Because, just wow... he looked like complete shit.

Morty ran a hand through his tangled and… slimy hair? (Ewwwwww) Before letting his finger trail under his third eye, eyeing the rather large bags that seemed to have worsened since a couple of days ago. Morty couldn't help but wonder if this was how he usually looked. Because honestly, he didn't look in the mirror that often.

Morty suddenly regretted spending the last hour doing nothing but laying in bed. A shower would have helped his reflection greatly (and made him smell a little nicer) and the time to brush his hair would have made him look decent.

A red stain on his shirt caught Morty's attention. He pulled at the fabric, rolling his third eye dramatically when he recognized the smear as blood.

Was he really still bleeding?

Morty frowned when he brought his hand (the one that he used to stupidly break a glass door) to his face. He grimaced at the sight of the blood encrusted cuts that glistened in the dim apartment light.

Morty just stared at the wound, too confused about how the hell he didn't notice that it was so bad… He didn't even feel a thing.

… How much alcohol/drugs were still in his system?

Morty frowned for the hundredth time that morning upon realizing that he didn't have the time to properly clean the cuts on his hand.

Oh well, it's not like it was going to kill him. Morty shrugged it off. He’d suffered worse.

Far worse.

Morty found one of his old jackets and cut a fairly large chunk out of the tacky fabric. He wrapped the makeshift bandage tightly around his hand and tied it off with a quick knot.

Good enough.

Finally forcing himself to look away from the mirror Morty walked out of the bathroom. Grabbing his trusty gun from his sock drawer and his portal gun (which had been thrown on the floor) he checked the time.

4:52 AM

Shit.   
He was supposed to have been there at like 4:40.

Welp, fuck it. Morty shoved the phone into his pocket. It's not like he really cared if he was on time or not.

Well… Morty mentally prepared himself as he grabbed his Portal gun.

This was it.

It was now or never.

Morty pointed the gun at the stained floor under him. Morty forced his hands to stop shaking so bad. He’d be fine.

Probably.

Morty didn't have much time to think before he was falling through the portal.

Feet slamming against the sidewalk, Morty wavered on his feet as a wave of dizziness soon followed that almost sent him to his knees. But he pushed the vertigo away, not wanting to look like an easy target on the shady street corner.

Morty looked up at the sign that read ‘Wetyy Bar’ in bright yellow lettering with half lidded tired eyes. Well -he tried to think positively- at least he made it to the right place. Morty ducked inside the bar, not wanting to encounter any drug addicts or gang members right now.

Upon entering, Morty was hit with the familiar scent of alien cocaine and alcohol. And he didn't even have to look around (or have the time to panic because he had no clue who he was supposed to be looking for) before a nicely dressed alien was approaching him with a rather annoyed look.

Mortys hand flew to the gun on his belt on instinct before he even realized what he was doing. Morty forced himself to relax. Breathing in deeply, he took in the alien that was fastly approaching him.

It was the same alien from last night.

But what really caught Morty's attention was the four tentacle-like arms extruding from their back. He must have been too out of it to get a good look last night but they looked deadly. Yellow bumpy spikes jutted out of of the top of each one like clawed hooks and Morty couldn't help but wonder how many creatures had met their end with those vicious looking things.

“Good morning, Three Eye Morty.” The alien addressed Morty confidently with a tone that he couldn't quite place. The alien in front of Morty stared at him with eyes that seemed to pierce right into his soul. The hairs on the back Morty's neck rose.

“Hello,” He remarked coldly.

Morty felt uneasy in this alien's presence.   
But with good reason.

“You can call me Sirbe.” The alien- now Sirbe said gruffly.

“Yeah wh-whatever.” Morry tried to say it with confidence but his voice betrayed him, coming out tired and sleep deprived (Which he definitely was but that wasn't the point). Morty couldn't keep his hand from unconsciously lingering above where his gun was hidden under his yellow shirt.

“Come with me.” And with formalities forgotten the alien- Sirbe gestured for Morty to follow and he did so with only little hesitation.

Morty followed the alien to a room in the back of the bar where two aliens guards waited, armed with big dangerous looking guns. They opened the door as soon as they spotted Sirbe. And shut it behind them after they both entered.

“Please sit Three Eye Morty.” The alien pointed to a chair on the other side of a desk that stood in the middle of the room. Morty nodded, jumping to follow the aliens order.

Sirbe took the seat opposite from Morty and drew a rather large looking gun from under his coat and laid it on his lap. A clear warning that Morty understood.

“Now, I'm sure you have questions. So ask.” Sirbe said as they leaned back in thier chair, looking at peace.

Morty nodded, stupidly asking the first question that popped into his mind.

“Ummm wh-why me? Why not hire a-a more popular… uh a more well known hitman?” The question had been egging him. Three Eye Morty was a nobody compared to some of the other hitmen.

“Its simple.” The alien folded their four tentacle-hands together, “The aliens here can never get close enough to the Rick we want dead and our attempts always fail with rather large casualties… But-” Sirbe’s lips quirked up slightly, “Morty's on the other hand can get quite close without being too suspicious.”

Morty narrowed his eyes. The way the alien had put that made it seem like Sirbe had already sent Morty's to try and kill this Rick...

“I'm not the first one you've hired, am I?” Morty chuckled awkwardly, already knowing the answer. How did they expected him to kill Rick when other (Probably better) Morty's had failed?

“True, you're not the first,” Sirbe paused, “Shetyrp Flurytu had been too rash at first and thought that simply being a Morty would get them close enough to kill him… But…” The aliens tentacles twitched slightly, “This particular Rick is quite paranoid and figured out their intent pretty quick and didn't hesitate to kill them.”

Morty cracked the knuckles on his good hand idly, wishing he had a cigarette.

Where was Sirbe going with this?

“So, i-if other Morty's have failed, how do you expect me to-ah succeed?” Morty tilted his head.

“Manipulation. I and Shetyrp believe that if you can gain some level of trust, you'll be able to get close and catch him off guard. We think it's the fact that Morty's try to kill him too early that's giving him hints.”

Morty nodded slowly in understanding.

Why was this Rick so paranoid? His last Rick hadn't been too paranoid... But then again weren't all alternate Ricks different in some aspect?

“Oh and Shetyrp Flurytu apologizes for not giving you a lot of time to think about this decision. Since she knows that it would have take a lot for you to even consider killing a Rick as you have made that very clear Three Eye Morty about your only rule… But you see… Morty's aren't exactly easy to find so she's glad you accepted her offer.”

Not really a rule anymore, Morty chuckled darkly, since he was now breaking it.   
Morty tapped his fingers against his chair idly, pushing away the sudden deadly urge to close his eyes and fall asleep.

Morty looked everywhere except for the piercing eyes of the alien before him.   
“Hmm… y-yeah.”

“But another reason as to why you had such a limited period of time to answer was because it's not easy to get a Morty into the Citadel of Rick's system.” The alien tipped back in his chair, seeming completely at ease.   
“We only had a short period of time to get you a fake persona as a Rickless Morty. And an even shorter period of time where the Rick we want dead would be accepting a Morty. But we managed to pair you up with him.”

Wow, Morty thought, this had actually taken quite a lot of planning. He hadn't even thought about living with this Rick. But a simple hit and run wouldn't quite work, Sirbe had already explained that.

Morty took a deep breath, allowing all the information to sink in. Morty was too on edge to actually fall asleep but he was starting to feel something akin to information overload. And fuck he was exhausted and needed to pay attention.

After a few seconds of quiet, Morty asked his last question.   
“How long should I umm wait before I-I kill him?” Might as well cut to the chase. He was going to have to do it. “Also any sp-pecific methods you want me to use, besides being discrete?”

Morty wasn't willing to make a mistake and not get paid the money he desperately needed because he had killed this Rick wrong. He's had that happen a couple times (mostly when he had been new to being a hitman) and Morty didn't want to have a repeat of that. Some aliens were very picky about how the hit died.

“Actually yes,” Two of the Sirbe’s arms dug into one of the various pockets on the aliens shirt before producing a small metal box. “This,” He gestured to the innocent looking object, “Contains a vial of liquid and one injector. It will kill Rick almost instantly when injected straight into any vein. And-”

He tossed the box to Morty, who caught it with fumbling hands.

“It only opens when you press the button on the top… It opens for no one else but it isn't indestructible and definitely not cheap… So don't lose it.” The alien gave Morty a stern glare, like he was warning a child not to run into the street without looking. “And keep it hidden because we’re not sure if Rick will be able to break into it if he finds it.”

Morty nodded dimly, quickly finding the small black button the alien was talking about on the top. He thumbed a finger over it but didn't dare press it, not wanting yet to face the reality of what he had to do.

“And-” The aliens face hardened. And in a split second Sirbe… vanished.

Morty entire body tensed, only jumping slightly when he felt a clawed tentacle wrap around his neck.

A low threatening voice whispered in his ear, “If you fail to kill Rick, and Rick somehow doesn't kill you, then we'll find you and torture you in most gruesome way possible. Shetyrp Flurytu will see to that.”

Morty started to nod but stopped himself, not wanting the spiked tentacles to cut into his throat.

The alien's mouth hardened into a toothy grin, “And remember Three Eye Morty that you're not the first Morty to try this.”

Morty nodded, trying to quell his shaking. “I-I ah understand sir.”

“Good.” The alien snorted, drawing his tentacles away from Morty's throat.

“Anyway the Rick Shetyrp’s after is from dimension C-128 but he's more commonly known by the name of Four Eye Rick.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think :) and if there is any way I can improve my writing, feel free to comment or message me. I apprechiate the feedback.


	4. Never Trust First Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morty meets his new Rick and is not sure what to think of him.

Morty thrummed his fingers against the bench he was sitting on, trying his hardest to ignore the other Rickless Morty's in the room. All of them waiting to be sold off and auctioned to Rick's like... livestock. Some Morty's were crying, others pounded angrily against the walls, but most were staring blankly into space.

Mortys neutral face twitched.   
He bit his lip.

It was so weird to be surrounded by the same faces and bodies that he seen in the mirror every morning and that he had killed countless times.

He may have killed other Mortys... But it had never been out of pleasure, but rather because he had no other choice (besides prostitution maybe). And even if he hadn't agreed to it, some other hitman would have ended up doing the job. You wouldn't believe how many Ricks went after a Ricks Morty in order to ‘send a message’.

Morty paused.

Why was he getting so worked up about this-

Morty jumped when another Morty unexpectedly put a hand on his shoulder. They looked unsure, scared as they stuttered.

“Hey, a-are you okay? Your lip is-umm bleeding.”

Mortys head reeled at the question, at the unexpected kindness he didn't deserve. He wiped his lip with the back of his hand to find that there was indeed blood, “Oh… no, I-I’m fine.” He brushed it off.

Would this Morty treat him differently if he knew all the wicked things he's done?

“Ok-Okay.”

Morty frowned upon noticing how badly the other was shaking. It seemed like at any second they would just fall apart like a broken ragdoll. “H-Hey are you okay? Your kind o-of trembling um pretty bad-”

The door suddenly opened with a woosh, causing Morty's head to the snap towards the sound.

It was the guard Rick.

The guard Rick, all dressed up in a white uniform didn't even look up from his clipboard as he burped out,   
“Morty L-21?”

Morty froze, lips twitching as he recognized the dimension number. It wasn't his, but rather the Morty he was impersonating. The real one had probably been killed by one of Sirbe’s goons.

“T-Thats me.” Morty said, standing up. He turned around to say goodbye to the Morty he'd just been talking to but he was met with a sea of the hopeless faces. His heart lurched.

Just… Just don't think about it.

Morty bit down on his lip again as he stood next to the guard Rick.

The guard Rick only glanced at Morty before walking briskly out of the room, clearly expecting Morty to follow without question. Morty let out an irritated puff through his nose before hurrying to catch up.

He followed the Rick through various hallways and past tons of other Ricks and Morty's in the citadel. Hed even seen a hammer Morty... jeesh how did their organs even work?

Morty rubbed his third eye, looking more closely at the Rick he was trailing behind. Morty wondered if the guy suspected anything… The Rick hadn't even ID’d him or even really looked at him… Was this Rick working for Sirbe also? So Morty could get into the citadel of Rick's undetected?

He didn't know.

Morty sighed, deciding to take the awkward silence as opportunity to once again run through his fake backstory.

Morty L-21.

Morty L-21 was a pretty stereotypical Morty, yellow shirt, sucked at school, lived with his family and more recently Rick. Really the only big difference was that in Morty L-21’s universe people had anywhere from one to five eyes and it just so happened that this Morty had three (Which was lucky for him… not so much the real Morty). Morty L-21’s Rick had been killed on an outing to Blips and Chitz. The pathetic Morty had then been found hiding in the bathroom by the alien police, who then informed the Citadel of Ricks and he had then been sent here.

Morty swallowed, hoping the big lump forming in his throat would go away. He couldn't afford to mess up any part of his story. Not if he wanted to live. Sirbe had made it very clear that if he allowed any little piece of information slip that didn't match the fake persona, the Rick wouldn't hesitate to kill him.

Morty shivered slightly at the thought.

There was no room for mistakes.

The sound of the guard Rick tapping his pen idly against his clipboard pulled Morty out of his thoughts. His third eye narrowed at the irritating sound but he chose not to say anything.

Morty couldn't help glance at the gun that rested proudly on the Rick's belt with jealousy. His own hand kept sneaking back to his side, instinctively searching for his own weapon but Morty's fingers only came into contact with unfamiliar emptiness. Morty just dug his fingers into his shirt instead.

Sirbe had made him give it up. It wouldn't have made it through the weapon detector everyone went through when entering the citadel of Ricks. Morty had been able to sneak his portal gun into the Citadel of Rick’s (because he had modified it quite a bit), but sadly, not his gun. But 1 out of 2 was better than zero.

The Rick suddenly slowed down, causing Morty to trip over his own feet as he tried to stop from crashing into the back of him. A warning would have been nice, Morty thought angrily, pushing a stray hair out of his eyes as he looked up.

“Rickuugh C-128 this is Morty L-21.”

Morty stared up at the Rick… now his Rick with a blank face.

“Now Rick sign here, here and here saying that you promise to care for your Morty and blah blah. I know you’ve heard the gig before Four Eye Rick.” The guard chuckled.

Four Eye Rick.

Mortys three eyes were immediately drawn to the bright blue pair of glasses that rested on the Ricks face. Ohhh… so that's why they called him four eye Rick. Morty had thought the stupid nickname had been literal.

The Ricks both laughed and joked while doing the paperwork and Morty just stood there awkwardly, not sure what to do or say.

Finally his new Rick turned to him.

“Yeah… So um you're Morty L-21, right?” The Rick turned to him. The sudden shift in tone caused Morty's head to snap up from where he had started counting tiles. The Rick sounded rather bored. Like he hadn't just been joking around with the guard Rick a few seconds ago.

Morty nodded, wondering if this Rick was prone to mood swings. He hoped fucking not.

“Welp,” The Rick (His Rick, Morty thought with disgust) pulled out his portal gun and created a portal.

“You ready to go? Or are you just going to keep staring at me?”

Morty chuckled slightly at that, wanting to reply with a ‘you wish’ but kept his mouth shut. No need to have this Rick hate him already. And god forbid, a Morty be sarcastic (and funny if you asked him).

“Y-Yeah.” Morty nodded, following the Rick through the green portal, grateful to finally leave that Rick and Morty infested place.

Morty stepped out of the portal… and into a house he hadn't been in for years.

He froze, third eye lingering on the various pieces of furniture that was causing faded but vivid memories to flood into his mind.

The couch, the table, and everything was covered with all sorts of scientific objects but Morty's brain recognized them and all the memories of his family sitting there joking around, eating dinner... His mom puking up her guts from drinking too much, Summer's runaway note, Jerry packing up and-

An alarm went off. The sudden blaring noise caused Morty to jump practically two feet off the floor as he clasped his hands over his ears.

A robotic male voice spoke, “Intruder alert, Intruder alert! There is one unidentified human in the living room area! Thirty seconds before lockdown and termination is initiated!”

Rick flew across the room and towards a big screen flashing red on the wall. His fingers flew across the keypad, typing in at least a 30 digit password.

Shit, wow. Morty thought. How the hell did he remember that?

“Password correct. Deactivating.” The red lights turned off and it was quiet once again.

Rick turned around, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, “Sorry, I kind of forgot about the alarm. But I was able to deactivate it in time so no deaths, no foul right?”

Rick dismissed the accident with a wave of his hand, “Remind me and I'll just get you into the system later.”

Rick suddenly slapped Morty on the back, pulling him out of his dazed state before gesturing to the entire house, “Well anyway… Welcome to the Rick Sanchez home Morty! We get the whole house to ourselves!... It's a fucking mess but hey, I like it t-that way.”

The whole house to themselves?

Morty found himself turning around to look around at the quiet house. Where was his mom? Summer? Jerry? Morty had been mentally preparing to meet this Rick's family… But they weren't anywhere to be seen. Nor were there any traces of them ever having lived here.

“So…” Morty's third eye glanced down at the floor, wondering how he should address the white elephant in the room.

“So umm Rick… where ex-exactly is your family?” Morty spoke hesitantly, waiting for the Ricks mood to suddenly turn sour.

Rick paused before turning to look at Morty, “Oh yeah.” He burped, tilting his head back. “I keep forgetting that most other Rick’s live with a fucking dysfunctional family. It's quite simple. I don't have one.”

“What do you mean?” Morty blurted out instantly, curious. He hadn't known that some Ricks didn't have families… Did this Rick just choose not to have children or…?

Rick pinched his nose with two fingers as if agitated that he was having this conversation right now.

“Okay, so basically my daughter didn’t marry or have children in this universe, Okay?… Is that basic enough for your simple mind to understand?” The sudden harshness in Rick's tone had Morty yet again reaching for the nonexistent gun on his belt. Fuck, that habit was going to be hard to kill.

“Sorry.” Morty found himself saying. “I didn't mean to-”

Rick cut him off, “D-Don't worry about it…”

…

Morty shifted from one foot to another, not liking the awkward silence that was now hanging in the air. Cringing, he ran a hand through his hair. This was going to be a lot harder than Morty originally thought.

The Rick suddenly perked up, looking at Morty with prompt... disgust?

“Yikes Morty, you look like you’ve been through literal hell and back, you want to take a shower? You know, before we eat lunch?” Ricks eyes swept over Morty, cringing at the sight.

“Y-Yeah, that would be nice.” Morty looked around hesitantly, “Umm… Where exactly is the bathroom?” It slipped out of his mouth before he realized his mistake.

Shit.

The Ricks smile dipped, “Its in the same place it's always been.”

Morty floundered at his mistake. “Well… umm, I-I uh wasn't sure if it was in th-the same place. A-A-Alternate universe and all.”

Morty looked up at the Rick, only to glance away. Did he buy it? Or was the Rick going to shoot him in the back as soon as he turned around?

“Ohh... “ Rick adjusted the glasses on his face, “That makes sense…” He pointed towards the stairs, “Up the stairs, first door on the right. Take as long as you want. Ill put some clothes you can wear in your room. Which by the way is the blue door.”

Morty said a quick “Thanks,” before heading up the stairs. This Rick was certainly weird, not awkward… Just different. He seemed kind of nice…

Was that just a charade though? 


	5. Everyone Seems Normal Until You Get To Know Them

Morty groaned, rubbing his third eye tiredly. He had just finished taking a shower and the hot water had massaged all of his sore and aching muscles. He regretted not taking one earlier this morning because it had felt so relaxing. Mortys third eye glanced around the foggy bathroom, one that he hadn't been in for what felt like forever.

Morty couldn't help but let a small smile dance across his lips as he caught sight of his reflection in the bathroom mirror.

He looked so much better.   
Washed hair, skin clean of dirt (and god knows what else) and in general Morty just looked a lot cleaner. Less like some some homeless child that Rick had picked up off the street and more like a Morty.

Morty ran his fingers through his tangled hair absentmindedly. His thoughts briefly drifted to the shattered mirror at his rundown apartment. He remembered looking in that mirror more than a handful of times, beer in hand, squinting in order to see himself more clearly with his hazy red eyes.

A low chuckle emanated under Mortys breath. He remembered not even being able to tell what color his hair was when he got like that. Whether from the dirt and stains or the drugs/alcohol, or a mix of the two, he didn't know. Morty ran his eyes up and down his clad form thinking that once he put on his signature yellow shirt and pants he'd look… he’d look just like any other Morty.

Morty suddenly flinched away. Leaning away from the mirror like the thing had just tried to bite him.

The hand in his hair snagged on a tangle, causing Morty to turn his head away from the mirror. Morty withdrew his hand from his smooth (but still very much knotted) hair and sat on the toilet, back to the mirror.

Morty splayed out his injured hand so he could inspect it. He had unwrapped the fabric before stepping into the shower and hadn't really gave it another thought until now. Morty stiffened at the raised and slightly bruised cuts that marked his skin. Morty rubbed the back of his neck. Thank goodness he was ambidextrous.

To be honest Morty had completely forgot that earlier this morning he had punched a glass door...

God, he could be really stupid sometimes.

Morty prodded at his injured hand, not surprised at all when his actions still didn't hurt in the slightest. But as Morty knew quite well that the pain pills were still in his system and would be for about another 20 hours… It was going to suck when they wore off.

Morty ran a timid finger over one of the scabbed over cuts. A startling thought struck him.

Had the Rick noticed his bandaged hand?

The thought made Morty's body unconsciously tense. The Rick had to of seen it. Morty had only been in the scientists presence for a couple minutes but he seemed to be always looking around, observant, on edge.

A knock on the door startled Morty out of his thoughts, “Hey Morty, y-you done yet!? Lunch is ready in ten!”

He jumped slightly at the sound, not at all expecting Rick to yell so loudly.   
“Ok-Okay!” He stuttered out the response and waited until he heard the quiet paddle of footsteps leaving before he relaxed.

Morty shook his head, before looking back to his hand.

The pieces of glass still need to be removed. Morty bit his lip, wondering if he should do it now or wait till later tonight when there would be no risk of the Rick walking in… No, he should get this done and over with.

Morty located the bathroom cabinets before shuffling through the various containers full of… kids soap? Wow, Morty snickered. He turned over the bottle of shampoo that had a smiling strawberry cartoon with a rainbow in the background in his hand curiously. It looked old… Well, Morty shrugged, to each their own he guessed. He put it down and began searching again.

After a few minutes Morty finally came across a small box with a big red X on the front. He opened it.   
  
Bandages, band aids (with random cartoon characters on them?), gauze, scissors and… Tweezers!

Perfect.   
Morty grinned at his luck and put the medical kit quietly on the counter.

Morty wasted no time and began to dig into the cuts, picking out any glass he seen. The blood that began pooling and dripping down his hand did little to deter him in the slightest. But then again he's had to stitch up his own arm multiple times and… oh yeah, kind of killed people for a living.

After Morty was sure that he had removed all the glass, he washed off his bloody hand in the sink before rewrapping it with some of the thick gauze and the piece of cloth he had used earlier. Morty cleaned up his mess before leaving the bathroom.

Now, Morty tilted his head, time to get some clean clothes.

With a towel wrapped around his waist, Morty strolled out of the steam filled bathroom and into the quiet hallway. Morty looked around warily. Hadn't the Rick said there was clothes he could wear in… was it the blue room?

Morty timidly opened what he hoped was the right room. It was the only blue door… but still… what if he had remembered the Ricks words wrong?

Mortys third eye instantly scanned the room.   
There was a bed, a dresser and one window…   
And that was it.

In overall it was pretty plain looking, more like guest room than anything else. But Morty would take it over sleeping on the couch. Or in his shitty apartment any day.

This had to be the right room Morty thought, crossing the sweet smelling room. As there were indeed clean clothes placed on the bed.

Morty examined the clothes the Rick had laid on the bed that were (supposedly) for him to wear.

A stained blue shirt and a pair of brown pants, which looked like Rick's old clothes, were laying on the bed. Silently thankful for the clean clothes Morty was quick to change into them.

Now for awkward social interaction.

Morty stepped hesitantly out into the hallway and down the stairs before reaching the kitchen.

“You take a long enough shower Morty?” The Rick commented jokingly as he stirred something Morty couldn't see on the stove from his angle.

Mortys nostrils inhaled the scent, third eye widening slightly.

It… It surprisingly smelled good.

The Rick turned slightly and looked Morty up and down with approving eyes, “Well, at least now you don't look like some wild animal, no offense.”

Morty felt himself stiffen, not sure how to take the comment. Joke back? Be a sarcastic shit?... Morty decided it would just be better to not say anything at all.

He's gotta act like a regular Morty, not a killer.

Morty stood stiffly in the middle of the room as the Rick pulled out two plates and began to set the table, talking as he did so, “Oh and did the clothes fit? They looked a little too big… But don't worry, we can get you some proper Morty clothes tomorrow. I know a good Morty shop at the citadel.”

Morty curled his hands into fists at his side.   
… Buy him clothes?

What games was this Rick playing?

Relax… Morty uncurled the fists he unconsciously made.

Why was he being so nice? He was a Rick right? Than shouldn't he be degrading him? Making him feel inferior?

Mortys eyes flashed with emotion but if the Rick noticed, he said nothing.

The Rick went back to stirring what ever was on the stove, “Morty you can sit down you know. The soup won't be done for another couple minutes… But if it makes you happier feel free to stand. I won't stop you.”

Morty walked over and plopped himself down at the table timidly.

He leaned his head on his hand as he ran a finger along the smooth wood of the table. This kitchen brought back so many vague memories of his family having dinner… but not one held Rick ever cooking.

“Uhh, w-why are you cooking? Ricks don't cook.” Morty found himself blurting out the question, his tone a lot harsher than he meant for it to be.

The Rick paused before turning to face him.   
“Well excuse me Morty, but please don't lump me into the same category with all the other Ricks. We are not all the same exact person you know.” The Rick paused, tone suddenly lightening up, “I get that you're used to relying on your family and all Morty but if you haven't noticed… it's kind of only me here! So how else am I supposed to eat if I don't cook food?”

Morty froze, he hadn't exactly thought about that…   
“Okay. S-Sorry…” Morty played with hands, “It-It's just that my-y Rick never cooked.” Or any of his Ricks in fact.

Rick opened his mouth as if to reply but closed it slowly, before giving Morty a small haste nod.

Morty averted his eyes. He needed to distract himself with something. Mortys eyes drifted back to the cluttered table. Full of unfinished inventions and blueprints. Rick… His Rick never made blueprints.

Morty sighed, well maybe not all Ricks were exactly the same than. Not with all the alternate dimensions out there. Morty leaned his head on his hand, his thoughts drifting to the same place they always did when he thought of all the possible alternate universes out there.

Did that mean there was a Rick out there who was actually… nice?

One that actually cared about his Morty?

Morty chewed on his bottom lip. It was plausible…

Morty tiredly glanced back towards the Rick who had his back turned to him.

...

Well, now the silence was just more awkward than the Rick talking.

Morty yawned and started messing around with a small unknown object on the table, not caring if the Rick got pissed. It would only prove to Morty that this Rick was the same as all the other Ricks in that aspect.

Morty muttered under his breath angrily, “You could just go out to eat.”

Just because this Rick didn't have a family, it didn't mean he would starve to death. In fact Morty had lived off of greasy cheap fast food for years. Alien food, but it was still food.

“Yeah, well I could also be really fat and buy into all the fast food propaganda saying it's ‘healthy’.” Rick glanced over at Morty, a small grin on his face, “In conclusion, I refuse to eat that shit they call fast food. If I wanted to die a slow death I would go and do just that.”

It took Morty a few startling seconds to realize that the Rick had heard his comment and… and wasn't reprimanding him. And had even joked with him.

Morty squinted at the Ricks turned back, it had to be a manipulative tactic. A ploy to get Morty comfortable.

Well… he wasn't falling for it.

“Sorry,” Morty apologized impulsively “I-I’m just kind of tired.” Morty dipped his head down, avoiding the Rick's gaze. It wasn't a lie. Morty was suddenly starting to feel his mind fog up with the need for sleep.

The soft sound of Rick stirring and the peacefulness of the silent house was causing his eyes to slowly close.

…

Morty laid his head on his arm. Wow, he was starting to feel really tired all of the sudden…

Morty kept trying futilely to get his eyes to stop closing against their own will and it would be so easy to fall asleep…

Morty groaned, finally the last week of barely sleeping was catching up to him.

“I’m-I'm going to-o uhh bed” Morty yawned, standing up shakily from the chair. He was too tired to even stay and eat.

The Rick frowned, turning to him, “But it's like only 1 in the afternoon. And you should probably eat something…”

Morty shook his head to stop himself from falling asleep right there while standing up. He couldnt stay awake. He'd been too tense to notice how tired he was before but now he feeling it all at once.

“Okay well night.” The rick gave him a weird look but went back to cooking happily.

And without another word Morty made his way to the room the Rick had set up for him. Morty fell in bed, not even bothering to get under the blankets.

The world around Morty vanished in a shade of black as he drifted into asleep. 


	6. Insomnia or Are You Just Going Crazy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Welcome to Morty Daaaaaaaycare! The hourly rates are overpriced but you Ricks will pay because you d-don't want to go on missions with uuuhhhhh your whiney snotass Mortys!" 
> 
> Basically how I picture Morty Daycare. Lol

Morty blinked open his eyes.

He stared blankly into the darkness above him as his body slowly began to wake up. Wisps of dreams floated around in his head but all he could recall was echoing footsteps and the fear of being chased by something much bigger than him.

Morty closed his eyes and snuggled back into the soft warm blankets…

But he soon realized that he was wide awake.

Fuck, Morty cursed inwardly.

He could already tell that today was going to be a bad day.

Mortys lips twitched into a soft frown, all three eyes snapping open hastily as he suddenly sat up, pushing the blankets down to his feet.

Experience told him that there was no point in trying to go back to sleep. As Morty would only end up laying and fretting in bed for hours… and when the sun finally rose he would only feel more exhausted than before.

How long had he slept anyway? Morty pondered, stretching his arms out. Morty than reached for his phone, which always rested on his bedstand.

…

It wasn't there.

The thought had him jolting up in bed frantically trying to recall exactly where he was. Because if he didn't have his phone, it could only mean that he wasn't at his apartment.

So where the fuck was he than?

It was too dark to see much but Morty was able to tell by the dark outline of things in the room that this indeed wasn't the layout of his apartment. His bedroom had a bathroom on the left and a closet next to his bed… But either of those familiar things weren't here. And this room was also clean.

He started sweating. W-Where the fuck was he?!

Had he been drugged?

Heart kickstarting like an old car engine sputtering to life, Morty practically threw himself off his bed. His hand instinctively swung down to grab for the gun on his belt… but that was missing also. Morty cursed his luck and began creeping around the dark room, arms out and feeling around blindly, his body tense and fully on alert.

The blackness made it almost impossible to see anything (and the the light from a nearby clock did little to help). And Morty's still sleep-ridden mind was also doing little to help his sudden lapse in memory. Morty briefly wondered if he was because had drank too much earlier…

But weirdly he couldn't recall drinking at all.

Morty persistently kept fumbling around in the dark, feeling along the walls for a few moments before his hand finally grazed what he presumed was a light switch. And without hesitation he flipped it on.

Morty wasn't disappointed as light filled the room.

Morty took in the empty human looking bedroom with wide eyes. The room was plain looking and not messy in the slightest (unlike his own apartment) and the white walls reminded him of a human hospital…

Morty froze as he suddenly recalled where he was.

Oh, yeah.

He was living with a Rick.

Specifically ‘Four Eye’ Rick.

…

… How… How could he have forgotten that?

Morty drew his fingers through his hair, feeling agitated with himself. He had freaked out for nothing. It must be because he was way too used to waking up in dumpsters or in random places... The instinct had practically been conditioned into him. By himself and his own stupid actions.

Morty looked around the room.

He felt really, really stupid.

Morty groaned at the realization that he would have to get up and eat breakfast with Rick soon. As much as he didn't wanted to, he really needed to start gaining the Ricks trust. But certainly almost passing out from exhaustion last night would help him pull the pity card.

But Morty was in no mood to deal with a version of Rick this morning. He felt like crap and he would kill for a cigarette right now.

… Maybe getting some food in his stomach would help him feel a little better.

Morty looked over to the clock he had seen earlier.

10:48

He frowned, rubbing his eyes.   
What? No way…. was the clock broken?

Because there was no way it could still be PM.

Wait… Morty froze.   
Hadn’t he just been fumbling around in the dark a few minutes ago?

A quick look over at the window in his room proved Morty right.

Only one moon and several white dots were shining dully in the blackness outside.   
There were no extra moons, no weird colored skies or any unearth-like things in the atmosphere.

He was indeed on Earth.

Morty looked down at the floor as he realized what this meant.

He at least got like nine hours of slept.

Morty tiredly sat back down on his messed up bed, massaging his injured hand tenderly as he tried to find a comfortable position to sit in. He cursed slightly through his teeth when he realized he must have bumped his hand earlier in his frantic struggle because it hurt.

Or the pain pills must have worn off…

The massaging only made it worse so Morty stopped, letting out a long sigh of defeat. He’ll just deal with it. He was going to have to until it healed.

Morty looked back over at the clock, wondering briefly if Rick was up or not. It was only like 11 at night… So probably not…

What was he supposed to do while he waited for morning than?

Morty rested his head onto his good hand, thinking.

When he lived in his apartment and had days where he was completely broke (and couldn't afford to party) Morty mostly just smoked, slept if he could, read books (more like pretended since he was never able to find ones in English) or sometimes he felt energetic enough to practice his fighting skills… But… Morty rolled his eyes, none of those things he could really do here. As he was pretty sure he hadn't seen any books lying around here earlier…

Morty licked his chapped lips as he tapped his fingers anxiously against his leg.

He'd do just about anything for a cigarette now or even a bottle of his favorite beer-

Nock, nock.

“Are you up M-Morty?”

The sudden noise almost had Morty falling off his bed in panic. Morty clutched the fabric of his shirt tightly as his heart started beating faster in surprise. He quickly readjusted himself, slicking back his hair and wiping the sweat off his forehead just in case Rick just rushed into the room.

Third eye blinking in confusion, Morty called out a meek, “Y-Yeah?”

What… What did the Rick want?

There was a shuffling on the other side of the door. And then there was Rick's voice, sounding slightly agitated. “W-What are you doing Morty? Don't tell m-me you fell off your bed in the middle of the night?…” There was a faint chuckle, “Anyway I heard all that racket you were making and it's fucking late. It's only like...” Rick paused as if checking the time somewhere, “Jesh Morty, you must have been tired. You slept for like nine hours.”

Morty took a second to smooth out his jittery voice. “I-I’m not doing anything!” He protested, “I w-woke up and-” Morty trailed off, not sure what to say, “I-I couldnt…. can’t go back to sleep.”

Morty messing with the cloth on his injured hand in anxiety. He sank back against the pillows on his bed, wishing hopelessly for at least one pack of cigarettes. No doubt he'd chain smoke them and use them all up at once.

There was silence on the other side of the door and Morty thought the old man had left. That was until suddenly the Rick's voice came muffled from the door, sounding slightly bored. “M-Morty fucking cover up a-anything that I don't want to see because i-i'm coming in.”

What? Morty frowned.  
Did the Rick think he'd been lying when he said he wasn't doing anything?

Morty didn't move.

…

There was a pause before the Rick hesitantly popped his head through the door.

“Weeeeell… si-since you're up and all,” The Rick spoke with a gravely voice, “You… You w-want to help me with an invention I've been working on?”

Morty stared at the Rick, all three eyes widening slightly in shock.

He hadn't been expecting that. (He should have but he hadn't). Definitely not offering Morty a chance to help him out with something. But then again… what other uses were there for a Morty?

‘Here grab me that screwdriver’ or ‘Stop fucking touching that!’ Morty could practically hear his last Rick's annoying voice.

But… It would give him something to do.

So Morty cautiously got off the bed and went over to the door. The Rick only greeted him with a stressed expression, “I take that as a yes?” Morty nodded simply and kept his eyes downcast.

Morty wondered if this would also give him the opportunity to swipe any extra cigarettes lying around or alcohol (If he was lucky). As he was beginning to feel desperate. Of course the Rick probably wouldn't notice if he was careful to be extra sneaky about it…

Wait…

“Uh… R-Rick? I haven't seen you drink ev-even once from your flask… and yo-you don't burp all the time like m-most Ricks… Why?” He raised one eyebrow, curious but hoping he wasn't overstepping an invisible boundary.

“Shit Morty,” The Rick rolled his eyes, “Alcohol numbs your brain but it also takes away all your control. And even if it feels good for a moment, the feeling is just another illusion.” The Rick shivered slightly, “And also I… I just don't like drinking that disgusting shit...” He tilted his head and added, “Plus i'm not supposed to drink alcohol with the pills I take.”

“Oh, o-okay.” Morty stuttered, not expecting that reply at all. He rubbed his knuckles together nervously as he walked out into the hallway.

What kind of pills did Rick even take? Bipolar? Depression?... Anti-psychotic?

Morty followed Rick silently through the hall and down the staircase. But when Rick didn't head towards the garage, Morty froze where he stood, confused.

“Uhhh R-Rick... Isn't yo-your lab in your garage?” Morty asked, shifting his weight onto his toes as he looked down at the ground. Morty hated how timid he sounded and was acting but this Rick's laid back attitude was making him extremely uneasy.

“Pfft, Morty my entire house is t-technically my ‘lab’ Morty. Did y-you seriously not see all the random shit and inventions that I have scattered throughout the house?” The Rick chuckled, readjusting the baby blue glasses on his face.

“But I happen to have this particular invention lain out on the living room floor. Its fucking valuable and I don't want it getting wrecked. So please try not to fucking step on anything because I can't promise that you won't get electrocuted or some shit.”

Rick lead Morty to the living room, where a huge metal door shaped object was resting on its side, exposed wires and circuits everywhere.

And with that Morty and Rick began working on some type of unknown machine located on the living room floor.

Rick had said its purpose was ‘ to do some really cool fucking shit.’ and Morty hadn't asked for clarification. It was probably something he wouldn't understand, even if Rick took the time to explain it to him.

…

Morty didn't know how long they stayed out there working. They took a few breaks, had a snack break a couple hours ago so maybe it was sometime in the morning? Morty wasn't sure as he still felt sluggish and had trouble thinking straight.

But Morty certainly noticed when Rick unexpectedly leapt up from where he'd been working on the machine, limbs flailing around in a dramatic funny, way and eyes wide open like he had suddenly been shot.

It would have been really funny if it hadn't terrified Morty so much.

“Wh-What fucking time is it?!” Rick called out to Morty, sounding extremely worried.

Morty dropped the ball of tangled wires he had been trying to untangle before turning to Rick who was checking the watch on his wrist. He tried to stutter out a simple ‘I don't know’ but his voice caught painfully in his throat.

“Shit!” The Rick rubbed the back of his neck, “I'm late for work! Fucking damn.” The Rick produced his portal gun from his pocket before beckoning for Morty to come over to him, “Come on Morty we gotta go!”

Work? Rick worked? Morty found the thought disturbing. How the fuck was that even that possible?...

Or… Morty's expression hardened, was that just a codename for something illegal?

But before Morty could think too much about it Rick was already pushing him through the portal, obviously in too much of a hurry to even let Morty walk through the portal himself.

Morty stumbled out on the other side and looked up, his breathing picking up.

He was standing… at the Citadel? The Citadel of Ricks…

Mortys face darkened. Why had Rick dragged him here?

Morty began to hyperventilate, his chest rapidly rising up and down. Had Rick somehow managed to figure out that he was here to murder him? Was he was going to turn him in? Oh god, what w-

But before Morty could finish his thought Rick suddenly grabbed Mary's arm and began tugging him in an unknown direction.

Morty felt himself calm down a little bit when after a minute when no Rick guards came running at him with guns telling him to freeze. Which meant that he was probably fine… For now.

Morty's brain didn't even process how weird this situation probably looked with Rick practically jogging, dragging a Morty (aka him) behind him that looked half dead. But the odd looks they received from the other Ricks and Morty's around them didn't miss his watchful eyes.

Then Rick suddenly slowed down.

And Morty found that they were standing in front of a building with a colorful sign that read in bold childish letters, “Morty Daycare! We specify in all types of Morty's!” The building itself was covered in Morty merchandise and it made him... queasy.

But before Morty could even question Rick as to why they were there, he was already being being dragged inside.

“Hello!” Rick hurriedly greeted an employee Rick that was sitting behind the counter inside. His Rick quickly pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to the Rick employee. The Rick quickly glanced it over, sparing a quick glance at Morty, before handing Rick back some kind of ticket with a mumbled response, “Okay, everyyythhhing looks to be okay. Your Mortttttty c-can go right ahead Four Eye Rick.”

Rick quickly turned back to Morty, his apologetic eyes meeting Morty's weary ones. He took hold of Morty's shoulders and got down on one knee so he was eyelevel with him in an effort to try and make Morty more comfortable but the action had the opposite effect.

“Okay, I-I'm sorry Morty but I kind of gotta go… I-I'll explain more later but basically I got to go to work… D-Don't worry though, I’ll be back around 5!” Rick gave Morty a light slap on the back in what was probably meant to be a reassuring gesture but only caused Morty to flinch. And with that Rick walked out and disappeared into the massive crowds or Rick and Mortys.

Morty stood frozen to the spot.

He had just abandoned Morty at a foreign place with practically no explanation. And at a daycare of all places. He wasn't 7 for god s sake...

Morty huffed in annoyance.

Mortys head jerked, eyes swiveling, when the Rick employee came out from behind the desk and called out to Morty with a bored tone, “Okay folllooooow me,” Not even waiting for Morty to recover from his shock before hastily pushing Morty down a hallway, like he wanted this exchange done with as soon as possible.

Morty instantly hissed at the sudden contact, his hands instantly turning to peel the Rick's fingers off him in one swift move, “Don't fucking touch me.” He ground out more harshly than he meant as he shoved the Rick's arm away.

The Rick let a loud sigh, “Oh my god, ladies and gentlemen, readers, it looks we gottttah a fucking b-badass over here everyone… Oh you better not mess with him! Fuuucking alright jeesh.” The Rick rolled his eyes as he lead Morty through a glass door, muttering rather loudly, “Great aaa-another wannabe emo Morty.”

Morty huffed and retorted back rather defiantly. “A-At least i'm n-not some kind of fucking idiot li-like you. At least I don't have to w-work in this shit shack of a place.”

It felt good to not hold back his smartass remarks.

The Rick just rolled their eyes, as if he heard that on a daily basis, “Anyway-”   
He waved to the brightly colored room in front of them filled which was filled with all kinds of Morty's. “This is Morty Daycare. Welcome, have fun and blaaaahh blah blah. Basically o-only rule is youuuhhh break anything, you fucking pay for it.”

Morty absentmindedly nodded, taking in all the Morty's running around with a guarded expression. And with a muttered curse and wave of the hand the Rick turned and left. Morty couldn't help but mouth a silent ‘Good riddance’.

Now, Morty stepped into the room, hiding his anxiety with ease. He needed to act tough so the Morty's who ruled this place wouldn't chew him up and spit him out like unflavored gum.

This… This was just like living out on the streets right?

He could do this.

A Morty started to approached him (To say welcome him or to test his skills in a fight, he didn't know or care) but Morty was quick to furrow his eyebrows and fold his arms over his torso to appear as non-approachable as possible.

He did not want to socialize more than he had to.

The Morty seemed to have gotten the hint because they paused slightly before turning around and returning to their group of friends. The three or four Morty's then immediately started whispering to each other, peeking glances over at him that they thought he couldn't see.

Morty hardened his face and bit his lip.

This was not going to be fun. But when was anything ever fun?

…

After a few hours of doing completely nothing except for watching Morty's give him weird looks and avoid him, boredom finally drove Morty to finally leave the corner he had claimed as his own to go look around and explore.

Morty walked past a ball pit full of laughing and screaming Morty's and found a sign above a door that had a picture of a computer on it. He walked into the room and seen about twenty Morty's on computers, listening to music and sharing (probably pornographic) pictures.

Morty gave them a dissatisfied look.

Boring.

A couple Morty's watched him wearily but he just walked past them and into the next room. Morty continued to explore several other rooms like one that. One had a room full of twin sized beds (full of sleeping or tired Morty's), and even one that looked like a version of his house with giant mascots of the family roaming around. He had avoided that one like a fly would a flyswatter.

But just wow, he thought.

Morty didn't get how this ‘Morty daycare’ was supposed to be entertaining. He got that it was a place for Ricks to abandon their Morty's for a short while… but still.

Morty peeked into yet another cliche room littered with Morty's when his third eye spotted something that definitely caught his interest.

A lone cigarette and lighter were lying on a sleeping Rick's desk. The Rick was obviously supposed to be keeping an eye on the Morty's but he was slumped foreword, eyes closed tightly as he snored loudly.

A plan formed quickly in his head.

Morty casually walked over, pretending to be interested in a poster, while waiting for all the Morty's in the room to stop watching him fearfully. Finally Morty sent them a harsh glare and they all looked away and began doing other things.

This was just too easy Morty thought as he seen his chance, a small smirk crawling over his face.

Morty swiped the cigarette and lighter without a further thought and was quick (but not too quick) to walk away before he was caught and possibly thrown out for stealing from a Rick.

When no one followed him and he didn't hear any angry yells behind him, Morty counted it as a success. But while he had little difficulty, he still kept a firm fist around the precious items in his pocket.

Now, Morty looked around, all he needed to do was find somewhere where there weren't so many Morty's and he could smoke his prize in peace. (As Morty knew he wouldn't be able to save the single cigarette and smoke it at Rick's own house).

Morty peeked his head into another room and smiled slightly when he found it to be mostly empty. The room was full of desks, books and... tons of school supplies… A study area he wondered? If so, no wonder it wasn't crowded like most other rooms.

Taking a seat in the back of the room, Morty was quick to light the cigarette with nervous and vibrating hands.

Morty took a deep inhale of the narcotic before blowing out a small puff of smoke. He felt his body relax but he still kept his third eye trained on the couple of other Morty's in the room. They gave him more odd looks that he couldn't place before they went back to doing what Morty thought looked like homework.

Morty sat there for a while, watching the grey smoke disappear into the air, perfectly content.

Morty was about halfway done with his cigarette when his luck abruptly ended, and a Rick finally stormed into the room, heading directly for him. Morty tilted his head back, pulling the cigarette from his lips and holding it with two fingers so he would be able to speak.

“Excuse me, is th-there a problem?” He asked the Rick, raising an eyebrow like he wasn't doing anything wrong. Morty recognized this Rick as the same one from the front counter.

“Yes, p-put ouuuttt that fucking cigarette before your s-stupid Morty ass drops it andddd you start a fire. We have an urgghhh no smoking policy here.” The Rick exclaimed with a rather bored sounding tone, glaring daggers at Morty's confidence. “And please stop trying to act cool becaaause it's clearly obvious that you're p-pathetic ass is definitely not.” He spat at Morty, holding an impatient hand out.

Morty frowned. He wasn't so inexperienced that he would drop a cigarette! And he wasn't doing it to be cool, he was addicted. He fucking needed this cigarette… And he wasn't about to give it up without a fight.

Morty took another puff and spoke more boldly than he felt,

“No.”

Morty leaned back up against the wall, trying to look like he was calm and not waiting for the Rick to lunge and forcefully take it from his hands.

“If yooooouuu don't give me that fucking thing I'm going t-to call security and have you fucken thrown out.” The Ricks tone suddenly changed from boredom into anger as he took a step toward Morty so he could leer threateningly over him. The Rick smelled strongly of smoke so Morty guessed that was probably a smoker himself. How ironic. And Morty could even see a pack poking out of his front shirt pocket…

“You won't do that.” Morty said confidently, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

“And whaaaaattt makes you think I-I won't throw y-your wannabe ass out?” The Rick threatened, eyes narrowing dangerously.

Morty rolled the cigarette between his fingers as he tried to think of a good lie on the spot.

“Because I can declare that I ‘got’ this cigarette from you… It-It has your fingerprints all over it-” A complete lie, ”And I would fu-fucking sue you for all that you have. My R-Rick knows a member of the council of Ricks... and he just happens to owe him a favor.” Morty spat out, hoping that he sounded somewhat convincing.

It wasn't true in the slightest but he hoped his fake confidence would scare the Rick away. But it was an okay lie considering that he’d had like only five seconds to think of something.

“Your full of shit, I-”

“And-” Morty sharply cut him off, “I'm guessing that since y-y-you work here at this shitty Morty daycare t-that you don't make much money. So to fight it in a court of law wo-would absolutely cripple you financially. And even if yo-you were able to somehow escape and not go to court, you'd never be able to return to-o the citadel… So I advise you to think carefully about whether or not your career is worth something as petty as a fucking cigarette.”

Morty prayed to god that this wasn't a smart Rick. He did not want to give up this cigarette. His one half gone cigarette.

The Rick snorted, eyes narrowing slightly, “Y-You're bluffing.” He put his hands on his hips, eyeing Morty like he was a piece of trash.

Morty just shrugged, “Try me.”

The Rick glared intensely at Morty, like if he stared long enough he would be able to tell whether or not Morty was lying. Morty kept his expression neutral, a habit that came easy to him.

Than the Rick finally let out a growl, before spitting on Morty.

“Fine. Just make sure you take caaaare of your fucking cigarette a-ashes when you're fucking done.” He sent Morty a burning glare before turning around and stomping away like a child.

Morty wiped the spit off his face, silently basking in his victory. A little spit on his face didn't really phase him. It was saliva.

He would take the win-

“You s-smoke much?” The sudden voice caused Morty to jump and whip around.

Morty relaxed slightly when he turned to see that it was only a Morty and not the Rick he'd just conned.

He eyed the Morty in front of him.

They were wearing a purple shirt decorated with a simple rainbow and had unnatural pinkish purple hair (dyed he noted). And the shade of his hair reminded Morty of an annoying alien species he had met once.

“Huh?” Morty asked the other, staring at the purple Morty wearily.

The Morty smirked, smiling rather awkwardly, “W-Well yeah, obviously you do smoke.” He pointed at the cigarette hanging from Morty's mouth, a small chuckle escaping him.

“Anyway, me and those Morty's over there-” He pointed somewhere behind him, probably into another room where Morty couldn't see, “C-couldn't help but notice you uh telling that Rick off…”

Morty wondered if this Morty was approaching him because he had kind of implied in that conversation with the Rick that he was rich.

“Yeah… s-so?”

The purple Morty slicked back his dyed hair with both of his hands like he was trying to recollect his thoughts.

“Anyway what i'm trying to get at is that you're not like most of the other Morty's he-here. You're smart, had or h-have a hard life and absolutely refuse to put up with anyones bullcrap… I can admire t-t-that” The Morty talked about it so casually that it was obvious that he knew what he was talking about. And that certainly grabbed Morty's attention.

“O-Oh hey, y-you uh need another smoke?” The Morty gestured to Morty's now almost burnt out cigarette.

Without even waiting for Morty to answer he began to dig into his pants pocket, quickly producing a pack of cigarettes. The purple Morty pulled one out of the half full pack and offered one to Morty, who immediately shook his head at the offer.

“Uh n-no thanks.”

He knew better than to take handouts from strangers. As this Morty would surely want something in return sometime in the future. They always did.

The Morty's smile seemed to grow even bigger at Morty's reply, “Oh and y-you've got street smarts too I-I see.” He commented, chuckling slightly. He tucked the cigarette back into the box and returned the pack to his pocket with a soft tap.

“Hmmm... I-I’m going out on a limb and guessing that your family doesn't allow you to smoke, do-do they?...” The Morty suddenly leaned forward, causing Morty to step back in response. “And you have a faint smell like so-some kind of drug I can't quite place...-You uh into w-weed? We got weed and s-some good alien shit that's cheap but does its job.”

While the offer sounded tempting, Morty couldn't, “Sorry uh n-no thanks. Plus I dont h-have any money.”

The Morty's voice suddenly dropped to a low whisper and he leaned closer to him.   
“Join our little gr-group and we can uh help y-you out with that. Get you free shit a-a-and stuff.”

Another tempting offer… Bu-But what could he possibly offer a group of rogue Mortys?

“Hey, do-don't give me that look.” The Morty sighed, rolling his eyes, “It's simple though, when you're he-here you can have the weed and cigarettes you want but in return all w-we want is protection.”

Morty raised an eyebrow, “Protection from uh, w-what exactly?... The R-Ricks working here?”

“No,” The Morty chuckled, shaking their head, “It's the Morty's you got to worry about here. Most are fucking snitches and p-pussys,” The Morty's face twitched as if he was recalling a bad memory.

“W-We can never s-sneak out to get… supplies. But with the display you've been putting on, the Morty's here have already started gossiping about you. Sa-Sadly they think your cool as fuck… b-but if you keep up the tough act most won't hesitate to mess with you.”

Morty pursed his lips. This sounded like a good opportunity.

Too good.

“C-Can I think ab-about it… uh... M-Morty?” He asked, third eye blinking slowly.

“Of course!... Oh and and everyone here just calls me Rainbow.” The Morty said casually. Morty raised an eyebrow at the nickname but the Morty just rolled his eyes at his reaction, “What? Di-Did you seriously not see m-my shirt?...”

Morty snorted, “I did... b-but still a w-weird nickname.”

“Hey!” The Morty acted offended, “Not all bad guys are into skulls and death you know!” The Morty let out a hearty laugh when Morty just proceed to stare at him.   
“I'm not lying!” He persisted.

“Anyway f-follow me, I'll show you how things run around here.” The rainbow Morty spoke, grinning wickedly at him, “And I can get you some more cigarettes.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I would like to give a special thanks to RiceBall for being so supporting and giving me the idea for this chapter! (And more to come) Thanks so much! :)


	7. You Can Use A Spear As A Walking Stick, But That Will Not Change Its Nature.

“Sorry for uh abandoning you this morning.” The Rick said as he shuffled around the kitchen looking for various things that he needed in order to prepare dinner. “And as you might of already guessed I-I work at the citadel and those fuckers really don't like to mess around… And i've kind of have already kind of been late like three times this week so… uh… yeah sorry.”

Morty said, resting his head on his arms. “I-Its no big deal.”

He certainly felt less anxious when Rick had came to pick him up… But the multiple cigarettes he had earlier was probably the cause of that.

But something good had come from that wierd Morty daycare. The Rainbow Morty that he had met had given Morty a pack of cigarettes before he had left. Morty at first had refused to take it but Rainbow wouldn't stopped pestering him until he agreed to take it so Morty did to get him off his back.

The pack were currently under his mattress, along with his portal gun and that box which held the components that would end this Rick's life. It had been the safest place he could think of. Morty just hoped that the Rick wouldnt snoop through the room.

“So-So what are you u-uh cooking?” Morty asked, peering over at the Rick from where he sat at the kitchen table. The Rick had his back to Morty and was stirring something in a large orange bowl.

“This is on-one of my all time favorites Morty. Its called…” The Rick paused dramatically.

“French Toast. Quick, easy and it tastes pretty okay if I m-may say so myself... And If I may say i'm perfect.” The Rick chuckled to himself, pushing his glasses up with the back of his hand.

Morty stifled a chuckle. “Pssh it'll probably su...” Morty bit back the smartass remark he had been about to say. To cover up his mistake Morty pretended to cough into sleeve and missed the look that Rick sent him.

“...”

Morty stiffened at the silence that was now beginning to creep into their conversation again.

The whooosh sound of the Rick stirring and the tap of the spoon against the bowl made the silence suddenly deafening.

So to keep himself busy, Morty began clearing the table. Figuring out that he might as well be of some use. Morty carefully sifted through unnamed inventions, random parts of machinery and weird alien devices. But as Morty was relocating them to the dining room area Morty suddenly realized something.

Wasn't the kitchen table supposed to be in the dining area?... And not in the kitchen?

The thought almost made Morty drop all the things he’d been carrying.

Uhhh… He couldn't remember. Mabye? He wasn't sure… Yes it had… Wait no… Ummm… Uhhh…

Morty stiffened.

He couldnt… couldnt have possibly forgotten something as simple as where the kitchen table was in his old house… could he?

No. He'd lived there for most of his life… Maybe Rick had-

A loud sizzling and popping noise coming from the kitchen snapped Morty out of his daze and he quickly recovered his composure. Setting down the objects had been carrying, Morty hurried back into the kitchen and stuffed his shaking hands into his pockets.

He… He couldn't forgot why he was here.

Morty wasn't here to remember buried memories, to eat dinner or even bicker with this Rick… He was here to end a life. This Rick's life. So when Morty finally returned back to the planet he had been living for the past year, he'd finally be able to stop living like some bum.

Mortys mind wandered on all the possibilities the money would give his access to. He could buy a house (sadly not a mansion). Could afford to eat more than greasy fast food, could afford all the hookers he wanted, and so much more. Morty could actually do just about anything with the money if he wanted to.

But… Morty turned his head back towards the Rick… But for now he would have to put up with living here and dealing with Rick… and find out why it apparently was so hard to kill him. So when Morty did the deed, he wouldn't mess up.

Morty glanced over at the Rick, trying to gauge him.

He didn't understand what made this Rick so special.

… Why was he so hard to kill?

It seemed so easy to just walk up behind the Rick, who had his back turned to Morty, and jam his fingers against the one vein, cutting off his precious oxygen supply, that would have him out in 5-10 seconds and dead in another 10 if he kept the pressure on it.

But obviously there was more than Morty was seeing if Shetyrp Flurytu of all people (aliens?) couldn't kill this Rick… And has been trying to kill him for god knows how long...

Maybe a good way to find out could be to go on a mission? It was definitely worth a shot.

“R-Rick I was uh thinking that…” Morty rubbed the back of his neck, “That maybe we could go on a mission? I-If… it's uh not too much tr-trouble.” He hoped his tone of voice didn't sound as eager as he felt.

“Nah, it's too late... Buuuuuutttt I don't work tomorrow so we can go than. I needed to go and do uhhhh…” The Rick suddenly trailed off. Mortys head darted up when the Rick trailed off only to find that the Rick staring straight at him.

“What-” Morty was promptly cut off as the Rick suddenly burst into a fit of laughter.

Mortys face turned red and he defensively spat out, “W-W-What's so funny?!” He didn't see what was so hilarious, but yet he knew that the Ricks laughter was somehow directed at him.

The Rick started to speak but then bent over and started howling with laughter again, waving around the spoon he'd been using earlier. “Oh m-my fucking go-god!” He chuckled, pulling up his glasses to wipe an imaginary tear from his eye.

Morty narrowed his eyes. He didn't see what was funny at all… Morty looked at himself. No stains nor were any funny sticky notes stuck to his back. He didn't see anything worth laughing at...

Oh. OH.

Mortys eyes paused when he realized the clothes that he was still wearing.

He was still wearing Rick's old clothes.   
The ones he had let Morty borrow.

Mortys burned out brain must have forgotten about that small detail this morning. But, to his credit, at least he was wearing clean clothes. Unlike a couple days ago when Morty arrived.

“Oh my god, haha, I-I completely forgot that you were ha wearing my…” The Rick burst into another fit of chuckles.

Mortys features softened. The Rick wasn't laughing at him. Morty forced the muscles in his body to relax.

“Sorry. W-Well get you some clothes after we're done eating. I completely forgot about that. “ The Rick gave a slight apologetic chuckle, “There's a store at the Citadel that sells Morty specific clothes…”

The Rick suddenly paused, in his stirring, “Wow, how much d-did you get bullied because of that when I left you at that Morty Daycare?” The Rick turned around to flip a piece of french toast that was sizzling on the stove.

Mortys lip twitched.

No one had even brought it up.

…

The next day Morty didn't jump out of bed upon immediately waking up so that had to be considered a plus… But he did sneak out for a quick cigarette at 3 in the morning when he sneaked past Ricks door only to hear him snoring loudly.

Breakfast was pretty much silent. The Rick had obviously not slept well as he had burnt the toast and kept drifting off, overall seeming out of it. But it was food so Morty ate it without complaint.

And soon after that the Rick had tossed something into the spaceships backseat before jumping into the driver's seat. So Morty guessed that they were going on a adventure still.

Morty wordlessly slipped into the passenger seat. The spaceship was surprisingly pretty clean. No alcohol or beer bottles, though the back seats were full of random parts and junk, a lot like his house.

Rick shoved his keys into the spaceship and off they went.

Most of the ride was silent (like breakfast) and Morty didn't feel like bothering the Rick so he didn't even attempt to make small talk.

Morty was actually on a role for today as he'd gotten 5 hours of sleep last night, which was what he was usually able to function on. And he was wearing one of the new sets of clothes Rich had gotten him last night so Morty felt pretty good. And the cigarette this morning had topped everything off like a cherry on a piece of pie.

As they neared the planet of their destination Morty pressed his face up the glass, peering out curiously at the planet below.

The entire planet was brown. Not one splotch or dot of any other colors were present and it made Morty think that the entire planet was made out of dirt or something of the sort. The planet was lined with deep depressions and huge mountains. So many that it seemed that very little space was actually flat, which is why Morty wasn't too confused when the Rick barely managed to land on a narrow part of a jutting out cliffedge.

Morty carefully opened his door. He peered out and was surprised to see that he still had about two or three feet from where the ship was parked before it drastically dropped off. Morty hesitantly stepped out of the ship and immediately proceeded to walk right over to the cliff's edge.

Morty squinted as he looked down but all he was able to see was none other than more brown. He couldn't see anything at the bottom. And Morty doubted that Rick would even be able to see anything either, especially since he wore glasses.

“I-I'm not so sure about th-this R-Rick.” Morty said, still trying to see what was at the bottom. He didn't have a fear of heights but he certainly had a fear of dying. What was Rick even planning to do from here?

“Pshhh, we'll be fine.” Rick waved off Morty's doubt with a wave of his hand before tossing Morty a bulky pair of shoes. “Put these on… Their gravity boots… and will hopefully keep you from falling to your death.”

Morty glanced over at Rick who was already strapping on the shoes. He nodded before silently copying Rick and doing the same. After he was done Morty stood up feeling a little braver.

“Why di-didn't we just park the spaceship closer?” Morty asked as he tested the shoes with a lift of his foot. They didn't do anything. Morty pursed his lips and began looking at his shoes to see what was wrong. Nothing seemed broken but he soon found a red button and he pressed it, hoping that it was what he presumed was a power button.

Morty tested the ‘gravity’ shoes again.

He was only able to lift it a couple inches off the ground before his foot was forcefully dragged back down. Morty smiled slightly, glad he hadn't just walked off the cliff without checking first.

“Jeeessh Morty, I would have parked my fucking spaceship closer but the aliens living down there are violent as fuck. They would have ended up destroying my entire ship... Those violent shits.” Rick hissed as readjusted the smeared blue glasses on his face.

Morty sent him a questioning glance, third eye blinking in confusion. “Yo-You've been here b-before?”

“Yeah I come here like every week. And I know this because they completely ripped apart my ship the first time I landed down here.” The Rick pointed to the bottom, cringing slightly, “I had to completely redo my entire fucking spaceship... And for your information it took forever. I-I do not plan on having a repeat of that anytime soon.”

“Why do-don't you just use your uh portal gun than?” Morty asked.

“Wooooooowwwww, why the hell didn't I think of that!” The Rick said loudly in a clearly sarcastic tone. “Y-Your such a genius Morty!”

Morty pursued his lips. He thought it had been a good question.

“I only use my portal gun when I absolutely have to, okay? Do you e-even know how expensive these-” Rick promptly pulled his portal gun from his pocket and pointed to the glowing green tube on top, “-batteries are?! I just can't use these things willy nilly Morty!…. And jesh what's with all the questions? I feel like i'm being interrogated.”

Morty shrugged his shoulders. Personally he just stole those green batteries whenever he found them for his own portal gun. Most of the time they were at shady pawn shops so he rarely ran out of them.

“So-Sorry.” Morty offered.

The Rick rolled his eyes and then proceeded to walk over the cliff… and just like he had said earlier Rick stuck the the edge of the cliff by his shoes.

Morty took a deep breath and then bravely joined him, ignoring the wave of nausea that washed over him when he no longer was facing sideways but rather downwards. The Rick turned to look at Morty behind him as he hesitantly jerked one foot up and began to move downwards towards Rick.

“You're n-not going to pass out from exhaustion again right?” The Rick asked Morty with an accusing but playful expression. The Rick was obviously recalling the event of Morty almost passing out at the kitchen table two days ago. “Cause I am not carrying your fat ass b-back.”

Morty just laughed, “Not before y-you do old man.” Before beginning to climb downwards. Morty shoulders stiffened upon realizing what he had just said.

Rick chuckled soflty, “Good one Morty.”

But Morty could feel the Rick's eyes burrowing into the back of his head the entire way down.

…

Morty had purposely tripped the wire.

He needed to know why this Rick was supposedly so hard to kill. He needed to know what he was up against. And it was clear this Rick had known what he was doing by expertly dodging every trap thrown at them.

Instantly a scream-like alarm began to blare in their ears and Rick sent Morty a glance that could kill. “S-Sorry, I-I didn't me-mean to R-Rick!” He stuttered out with fake remorse.

“Aw f-fucken hell!” Rick called out to no one in particular before abandoning his attempts to be careful and just running for the exit, Morty right behind him, looking way calmer than he probably should be.

Morty and Rick came to the other side of the wide tunnel, only to find that the aliens had already surrounded the entrance on all sides. Rick cursed heavily, securing the bag with their prize that was strapped to his shoulder as he took a couple steps back.

The aliens screamed at them both, feathers slowing unsheathing from the top of their deerlike heads. “Sshhhsygdhj djjrjmd mmdsssss!” They gargled, pointing several spear looking objects (They had way too many points to be a spear but close enough) towards them. Mortys third eye widened slightly, wondering what action Rick would take.

“Come on, can't we make some kind of a trade?” Rick immediately attempted to smooth talk but the aliens only cried angrily in reply, rapidly coming closer. Morty gave Rick a look of disbelief, not at all expecting Rick to try and issue a trading system. Was this supposed to be some sort of a distraction?

Why not just slaughter them all?

Morty questioned why they just didn't just climb the tunnel walls with the gravity boots still strapped (but turned off) on their feet. Then those aliens spears wouldn't be able to even touch them and they could escape… But maybe Rick had a more foolproof plan?

Morty waited patiently, waiting to see what Rick would do.

A spear was suddenly flung -almost supernaturally fast- at Rick who was still trying to reason with the aliens that couldn't obviously speak fucking english. Morty almost facepalmed at this Rick's stupidity.

Rick dodged out of the way pretty fast but nothing Morty would consider special. Rick then jumped backwards, grabbing the spear that had just been thrown at him with careful hands. He waved it at the aliens threateningly and they jumped back screaming incoherent cries.

Judging from how they had dodged the spear heads Morty wondered if the gray slime covering the tips was poison.

Than Rick suddenly shot forward, firing something upwards at one of the huge pillars surrounding them. A hook flew out of Rick's gun (that seemingly came out of nowhere) and buried itself deep into the stone column, attached by a thick cable. Rick began tugging on it as he walked backwards. And Morty realized that if the pillar fell it would crush the thirty or so aliens that surrounded them in one small act.

“Uggh, a little help Morty would be nice!” Rick shouted as he took another step back, dodging another spear and desperately pulling on the grappling hook gun, obviously struggling. Morty didn't understand why Rick didn't just use it to get out of here but fucking screw it.

Morty grabbed onto the cable and yanked on it, hard. There was a dull creaking sound like wood splintering and then the sound of stone crackling and then… the pillar was falling.

Morty and Rick both jumped back in order not to be crushed. The pillar shattered into a million pieces upon impact… along with the bodies of a whole bunch of aliens hit in the process. Morty got hit with a couple pieces splintering of stone and what he supposed was green sparkling alien blood. Morty shakily stood up, wiping his stained hands on his pants.

To his left Rick had already shot the grappling hook again and before Morty could protest, Rick wrapped one arm around Morty and then they were suddenly being janked upwards.

It took a few moments for Morty to realize what had happened but when he did Morty noticed himself dangling in the air in Rick's grasp, steadily moving upwards. Morty watched the alien village slowing getting smaller below them.

When they landed on a small piece of rock jutting out from one of the cliffs, Morty found that he was only focused on Rick, who leaning against the cliff face, panting heavily. His breathing sounding slightly painful.

Morty snorted, trying to lighten up the mood. “I-I thought you were su-supposed to be perfect? Because j-just to let you know th-that was an-an absolute mess.”

“Do y-you-” Huff “-know how mu-much-” Pant, huff “-that pillar even weiggghhed?” Rick gasped, bent over as he tried to catch his breath. It looked kind of pathetic. Rick looked old.

“And i-it certainly didn't help-” Pant “-th-that you w-were just standing there!” Rick coughed before straightening up, his breathing more normal.

“Okay im good n-now.” Rick said tucking the grappling gun back into his stained lab coat pocket.

Rick then proceeded to take a few of the berries they stolen out of the bag across his shoulder before tossing it to Morty. “Still w-worth it.” Rick panted slightly as he eyed his prize.

Morty peered into the bag that held their stolen berries. Rick had told him that those aliens considered these sacred, thus why there was only one single bush hidden in the back of a heavily guarded tunnel.

Plucking one of the many whitish spiked berries, Morty examined the thing closely.   
“W-What are these even for? What exactly do th-they do?” He stuttered, noticing how the spikes bent softly under his fingers.

Rick promptly plucked the berry out of Morty's hands, ignoring the frown Morty sent him, “There for-” He than popped the berry into his mouth, “There for our pancakes in the morning. These fucking things are to die for.” Rick chewed, wiping some sweat off his forehead.

Morty eyes widened, turning around to face Rick, “You l-literally just killed all those aliens for… for g-good pancakes?”

Rick scoffed, “We. We killed those shitheads for their sacred white berries tecnically But you have to try one, they are to die for!” He held one out expectantly to Morty.

Morty felt alarmed and shocked… but yet he took it.

Morty eyed it wearily before popping it in his mouth and chewing it slowly. He was hit with an overwhelming bitterness and Morty almost spit it the thing out but quickly the feeling melted and its sweetness tingled his tastebuds.

Mmmm… They were actually pretty good. Different but good.

“See I-I told ya,” Rick hummed, giving Morty a knowing smile. “Remember I know everything.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this going too slowly? I think its good but anyway Im going to to start adding the romance now so prepare for the fluff.


	8. Living is the slowest and most painful way to die.

It's been more than a week since Morty's moved in. He would like to say that it's been a good week but since when are things ever easy for Morty?

He's felt deathly ill for the last four or five days now. And what had started out as a dull headache and simply not getting enough sleep, had turned into a full blown feeling like Morty's been hit by Ricks spaceship.

Mortys head hurt, his body ached, and he was always nauseous… but this wasn't the flu, oh no, things were never that simple either.

Morty knew exactly what this sudden ‘sickness’ was. He's had to deal with it way too many times.

He was going through withdrawls.

From whatever alien drugs he'd been addicted to before moving here… And it's been way too long since he's even had an alcoholic drink or anything equivalent to at least weed (and you can get addicted to it!). It was seriously starting to affect his ability to do fucking anything.

So life lately has just been dealing with its symptoms.

Morty rubbed his eyes and readjusted himself on Rick's cluttered couch. His aching arm was throbbing and no matter how he positioned himself he still felt miserable. His center eye darted over to Rick, who was once again working on the advanced metal detector machine in the living room, while talking to Morty absentmindedly.

But honestly Morty wasn't listening at all.

“-This is going to be h-huge at the citadel. Blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah… Hey M-Morty, can y-you hand me the flathead screwdriver?”

Rick paused in his explanation. Too busy prying apart two metal folds of his machine to reach across the carpeted floor.

Morty pressed his fingers against his forehead, massaging it slightly as he quickly snatched up the tool and threw it over to Rick, who caught it easily besides Morty's throw being almost completely off.

Rick was instantly back to work, rambling on and on about something that Morty's brain couldn't comprehend right than.

When his eyes started to drift towards the window Morty pinched his arm, knowing he should probably listen and should stop spacing out. Rick was most likely telling him important information about the mission they were going on later.

He should… But he felt so out of it…

Morty just nodded again dully and mumbled,

“Yeah… Hmmmm… ”

He didn't want to think. And the feeling was kind of a little scary.

Now Morty's went through withdrawals before… But he could say with plenty of experience that it never got better. It would be like saying that hurting yourself would help build up your pain tolerance. Just ridiculous.

But uggh… He really needed to listen.. Well… Hmmm… He guessed… It'd be okay if he rested…

Just for a little bit….

…

…

“Hey, Morty are y-you okay?” Rick suddenly asked.

Morty jumped slightly, eyes flinging open in alarm. Frantically shaking himself awake (in vain) and straightened his posture. Pretending like he hadn't just fallen asleep. He hoped Rick wouldn't be mad, he couldn't help it.

With a shake his head, Morty brushed it off. “I-I'm fine R-R-Rick.” But his tone of voice just dripped with misery.

Morty clenched his fists when he felt another wave of nausea pass over him. He was glad that he hadn't eaten breakfast because there's no doubt he would have thrown it up by now.

The Rick just snorted, “You're such a f-fucking liar…”

He tapped a bright glowing tube tentatively before he began inspecting it, adjusting his glasses. “If that's true... then why did you give me a wrench… instead of the screwdriver I asked for?”

Rick held up the wrench Morty had just given him to prove his point. Raising an eyebrow questioningly, he stared at Morty expectantly.“And I know you're s-smart enough to tell the difference so no bullshit about how you didn't know.”

Mortys face paled.

He had been sure that he had grabbed the wrench…

Morty shook his head, desperately trying to clear the fog that kept clouding up his mind. Uhhh, he needed to lie. Or divert Rick's attention away from him.

“F-Fine Rick.” Morty ground out, knowing he was beat. And that Rick had inevitably noticed him acting strange. “I-I'm just not feeling we-well, o-okay?” Morty hoped Rick would drop it at that. It wasn't like he even really cared anyway.

“Well, no shit sherlock. I kind of figured.”

Rick sent Morty another weird glance.

“You just have the flu?... O-Or is it s-something else?” Rick began prying off a large gray sheet off the machine and the scratching of metal on metal made Morty's ears ring but he said nothing.

Ricks words made it seem that he also knew that it wasn't just the flu.

Fuck, this Rick really was perceptive.

Morty shivered, sinking deeper into the stained old couch, “Y-Yeah, it's just the ugh flu.” He was too miserable to think of anything better.

Morty watched silently when Rick cursed as he accidentally smeared his glasses with some type of liquid that had been on his hands (probably some type of oil). Going to clean them Rick took them off and used his white lab coat to brush off the liquid before putting them back on his face.

Mortys eyes had already started to drift close again…

…

“You sure you're okay?” Morty didn't even open his eyes at Rick's question. He just nodded in response.

He felt just horrible but at least when he slept he didn't feel sick, he didn't feel anything-

Rick threw his hands up into the air, dropping the tool he had been using causing the loud noise to startle Morty awake. Rick was now furrowing his eyebrows at him.

“I call that fucking bullcrap Morty! You've been sick for… a-almost a week now!… And you haven't had a runny nose, haven't been coughing or anything like a normal sickness, especially the flu.” Rick sat back, his hand rubbing his chin as his eyes seemed to be trying to find a way to drill into Morty's soul.

“What symptoms are you experiencing?”

If Morty wasn't so out of it hed probably be surprised to realize that Rick actually sounded kind of guilty. “Do you have a fever? Hmmm... Fucking j-jesh you look as pale as a ghost… You sure you don't want me to reheat breakfast?”

All the accusations were really starting to piss Morty off.

… Or maybe it was the fake worried tone in Rick's voice.

“Why do you care?” Morty suddenly hissed, hate seething into his words. He wrapped his arms around himself and looked away from Rick's gaze. He pulled his feet up onto the couch and tentatively rested his arms on them.

Morty huffed.  
Like a Rick would ever care for their Morty.

Rick froze, as if he hadn't been expecting that type response at all.

“Well… Uh… I-I…”

For once in his life Rick seemed at a lost for what to say. Rick began fiddling with the machine, that to Morty, looked to be a place that he'd already fixed.

“Well I-I… I uhhh don't-”

Morty sharply cut him off, sitting up straighter, his delirium making him momentarily bolder, “What? You don't want your Morty to be sick because than he'd be absolutely useless to you? Is that it?!”

As if this Rick had the audacity to pretend to care.

A frown pulled at Rick's lips but he took his time to answer, as if deciding his words very carefully. And Morty didn't miss how his gaze trailed down to his still bandaged and healing hand.

Rick pursed his eyebrows before speaking tentatively, “Is this sickness and sudden attitude because of your hand?... If s-something's wrong Morty, I need to know.”

Morty's third eye widened and he unconsciously covered up his injured arm with his useful one. But Morty couldn't help but feel a spike of hurt pierce his chest.

… Rick hadn't even tried to deny it. A Morty was useless to him hurt…

“No I told you I-I’m f-” Morty started but Rick cut him off with a wave of his hand.

“-And stop lying! Because i've been the one restocking the bathroom with clean bandages that you've been using.” Rick gave Morty a hard, knowing stare.

Morty snapped his mouth shut. His arm did hurt but that's because it was healing.

…

The silence that stretched across the room was killer.

…

In all honestly Morty had expected Rick to just sigh and give up. To turn around and just get back to work on his machine and to forget all about Morty and why he was acting so weirdly but no, Rick just glared at Morty, a look he couldn't place masking most of the older man's face.

It was unsettling.

“Okay Morty,” Rick took a deep breath,

“I've been nice, I've given you space, I haven't even asked you a lot of questions… but, i-if your hand is hurting you I… want to know.” The seriousness in Rick's usually satirical voice had Morty frozen in place.

Morty couldn't help but gawk.

He was fine, really. He just wanted Rick to leave him alone.

“Rick… I-I'm fine.” Morty found the strength to lace his face with a soft reassuring smile. And the lies tumbled smoothly from his mouth, despite the fact that he still felt like shit.

“I really just have the flu. And M-My hands fine… I-I uhhh… just don't really want to talk about it.” He intertwined his fingers into his shirt nervously. It was honestly scary to Morty's own ears how sincere he sounded.

But confidence had a way of making even the biggest of lies look like the truth.

… Morty hoped Rick would believe his lie… but then again also kind of didn’t too.

Ricks face suddenly seemed to soften at Morty's answer, the worry and seriousness seeming to melt from his features and Rick regained his old sarcastic tone… though his eyes seemed to say a different story. Kind of like, ‘I don't believe you but i'm obviously not going to get a truthful answer so I give up.’

“Okay, if you say so Morty.” Rick said before walking over to him, “But seriously if anythings wrong, don't hesitate to tell me okay?” Rick patted Morty softly on the shoulder, the touch catching Morty by surprise.

Morty gave Rick a tight lipped appreciative smile, though he knew he never take up Ricks offer. But it was a nice thought.

Morty could already feel his tiredness dragging him back to sleep again but he once again fought it.

Rick suddenly grabbed Morty's arm and pulled him off the couch. But before Morty could protest too loudly Rick was already dragging him toward the stairs.

“Go get some sleep Morty. I can't have you all snappy and tired for our next adventure.” Rick's voice was quiet and the sound was a melody to Morty's ears.

Morty didn't even say anything, he just nodded and headed upstairs.

Everything seemed to hit him all at once and he was soon thrown back into the depths of sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> XD Did anyone notice I changed the title? I dont like naming a story untill im done or at the very least half finished but oh well. Anyway I think it fits a lot better, especially now that I know where this story is about.


	9. I Hope My Last Breath Is A Sigh Of Relief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A simple mission dosen't go as Rick and Morty planned... but than again when do things ever turn out the way you expected?

“Welp, this was… unexpected.”

Rick said breathlessly as both him and Morty stared at their completely destroyed ship that was currently on fire in front of them. Morty huffed, dropping the big crystal that they had just stolen from this dimension, the blue thing practically slipping out of his cut and sweaty hands. Ignoring the flare of pain in his arm, Morty gazed at the mess in front of them with a dazed expression.

The pieces of Rick's ship that hadn't been obliterated were lit up with yellow and black sparks as corrosive acid furiously ate away at the inner frame. The wires and all the electrical insides of the ship were scattered and smashed and laid broken on the ground, edges burning a crisp black.

It would be such a beautiful display… But that had kind of been their ride home.

And Morty knew that Rick was going to make him help build a new ship. And probably would make them even start on it tonight. Even after their exhausting ‘adventure’.

Morty ran a tired hand through his sweaty dirty hair as he took in the defeating sight. He was glad that they had decided to go to an alternate universe and not to a different planet, because they had to use a portal gun to get here… Which meant they had an alternative way to get home.

Morty glanced over at Rick, his face pale still with disbelief, “D-Did you really no-not think to a-a-add a security system on it? To uhhh a-avoid something l-like this?” Morty couldn't keep his third eye from widening in disbelief at Rick's stupidity. Rick was the genius. The one who had the entire expansion of stars and knowledge at his fingertips.

Ricks eyes flashed with some unknown emotion and he muttered something incomprehensible under his breath, “This always happens… F-Fucking… Stupid… ”

Ricks eyes kept darting from the ship and then back to Morty, “Well sorrrrrrrrrryyyyy Morty, but I hadn’t exactly planned on my ship to practically self destruct… J-Just be thankful you spoiled brat that we weren't in the ship when it decided to suddenly explode.”

Morty leaned against a nearby tree, feeling a little weak. He was still having moments of confusion and it didn't help that his entire body ached from their mission. Morty had started taking Ibuprofen so at least his withdrawal symptoms weren’t nearly as bad as before.

“Anyway, it's been a late night…” Rick suddenly yawned, pulling out his portal gun. “And I am so fucking ready to go to sleeeeeep! “ Rick shouted eagerly as he started putting in the correct coordinates so they could go home.

Morty picked up the giant crystal off the ground with aching arms that almost refused carry the things weight . Morty unconsciously kept shifting the large object around in his arms as it seemed that whatever position he held it spikes of pain kept radiating down his injured hand.

Without warning, Rick suddenly took the crystal from Morty's hands and wordlessly handed him the portal gun in exchange. Morty stared at the portal gun in his hands in shock before he looked up and gave Rick an extremely confused look.

“Don't mention it,” Rick sighed loudly as he shifted the giant crystal in his arms into a more comfortable position. He then nodded towards the portal gun in his hands.   
“Okay Morty, so p-put in the coordinates right there… yepppp… and then press the big red f-fucking button. Yah, you can't really miss it…” Rick tried to joke but his voice came out forced and unenergetic.

And while Morty already knew how to work a portal gun, he still half-heartedly listened to Rick's way too dumbed down explanation.

Morty was quick to press the power button.   
He was honestly glad to finally go and he also needed the time to himself to get over the mind-altering crap he'd seen.

But instead of the sharp whirl sound of a portal being made, there was a dim mechanical screaming sound that sounded like knives being dragged across a chalkboard. Morty clenched his jaw and thankfully the agonizing sound only lasted for a few seconds.

All three of Morty's eyes opened wide when the horrifying realization struck him that the sound had come from Rick's portal gun.

H-Had he broken it?

Morty almost lost grip on the portal gun entirely, almost dropping it, before he fought the urge to immediately start inspecting the device. It could be a simple malfunction or… something more way more sinister and complicated… but he shouldn't check it.

Most Morty's didn't know shit about portal guns.

So Morty tried to act… Mortyish. He stopped staring at the thing and did what any normal kid would do and started repeatedly pressing the power button, knowing full well that this very well could make the problem worse.

“Stop that!” Rick suddenly barked, dropping the crystal and jumping over to Morty and snatching the portal gun from his tight and sweaty grasp.

Rick carefully inspected it for a few moments before his expression promptly fell.

“It's uhh… jammed.” Rick rolled the gun over in his hands. “A simple fix… If I had the right tools.” Rick tilted his head as he looked back over to the burning ship, which held his spare tools.

Morty froze.

“Y-You mean w-w-were stranded in a-a-another dimension!?” He couldn't help but shout. Morty was in no mood to try and stay calm. He was tired. He wanted to go home. And most of all he didn't want to deal with this right now.

Rick rolled his eyes, sighing dramtically. “Yep.”

“Wh-What are we going t-to do?” Morty looked around at the night that was steadily closing in around them.

What were they going to do? How were they going to find the right tools? Were they going to have to go and ask their alternate selves for the tools? What would they say? Would they even-

“Well are you coming or not?”

Rick's voice broke Morty out of his anxious thoughts.

Rick pointed towards the town with a steady finger, “Our best bet is to uh go to this demensions version of our house. I can tell you for certain that they'll h-have all the tools we need. Our universe is basically parallel to theirs.” And with that Rick began walking away, towards this demensions version of their town, with or without Morty at his side.

Suddenly the looming unpredictable creatures and old shadowy forests seemed more frightening alone.

Morty pushed his body to catch up, breaking into a quick sprint, promptly ignoring the wave of fatigue that washed over his body. He finally caught up to Rick, who said some smartass comment that Morty didn't quite catch.

He glanced over at Rick's worried expression.

This mission was not going as planned at all.

…

Finally an hour later, they were able to make their way to their dimensions house.

It was exactly like theirs.   
Same lawn, same fence, same yard, same mailbox, same street, same house color and same layout… of fucking everything.

Well except their blue curtains.

“Okay,” Rick whispered as he peered through the kitchen window, “We need to f-find a way to get in without making too much noise or drawing attention to ourselves… so w-we can than sneak up on this version of me and steal his portal gun.”

Morty paced absentmindedly.

Why they didn't just steal the tools to fix their own portal gun… Instead of stealing another Rick and Morty's?... Time maybe?... Was Rick really in that much of a hurry to get home?

And…

Rick seemed tense… Way more than usual anyway.

Why was this puting Rick on edge? The only difference from this universe and theirs was that rare crystals were common here, and the common ones from their universe were rare here. Thus why they were here in the first place.

… Or at least that was what Rick told him.

“Well?...” Rick stared at Morty expectantly. Clearly he had asked Morty a question that had just gone over his head.

Morty stared back like a deer in headlights, “W-W-What?” He stammered.

“Pffft come on Morty, I wasn't being rhetorical just than. What do u think we should do?... I don't want anyone to know we were here. And this Ricks dimension has a family.” He than added with an exaggerated eye roll, “And if you s-somehow don't remember i've lived alone for most of my life.”

Morty backed up, trying desperately to think.

It's been so long since he's actually been around his family…

“Uhhh, s-summer should be in her r-room…” Morty fiddled with the loose strings on his shirt as he thought carefully, “Mom and dad would uhh probably b-be in their room, maybe?…” Morty trailed off as he seen that his family's car wasn't in the driveway. And it was too late for dinner…

Wasn't it Saturday?... What did his family always do on Saturday, before his parents got divorced?

Fuck, Morty rubbed his neck. He really couldn't recall.

But he did remember that him and Rick often didn’t go. But what if this universes Beth and Jerry were divorced too?

“Actually I-Inthink they shouldn't be home. Saturday nights were considered ‘family nights’ and everyone except me and my Rick used to go.” Morty trailed off, a distant look suddenly seeping into his otherwise tense expression.

“Ok-Okay follow me than, I think I s-seen an open window earlier.” Rick stated as he started heading towards the other side of the house.

As Rick helped Morty over the fence, he absentmindedly shook his head, “See t-this is why I have an alarm Morty. To prevent people from doing exactly what we're about to do… Or at l-l-least that's a part of it.”

But before Morty could ask what Rick meant by that, he was being dragged over to a window. Which Morty dimly seen lead into the laundry room. Rick was quick to break the lock with a nearby shovel and he slipped in elegantly through the window, like he's done it a million times before.

Morty clumsily slipped through the window after him, having no clue about what to expect about the exchange that was about to take place. Rick almost instantly placed a hand over Morty's mouth and pointed towards the living room, where a version of them were watching tv, their backs to them. Laughing and playful bickering echoes could be heard.

A pang struck Morty at the sight. For a second he wished that he was that Morty. Wished that he could live with a normal family and be able to watch tv without worrying that his life was slowly falling apart.

“You get the Morty, I'll go for the Rick.” Rick whispered in Morty's ear. Morty nodded in understanding. He was also curious about how well Rick would be in a fight.

Morty felt his muscles finally loosen at those words. At least now he knew it was going to be a fight and not a shitty negotiation tactic or something even stupider than that.

Morty grinned wickedly. A fight he could handle.

Rick suddenly grabbed a thing of soap from on top of the dryer and chucked it at the tv. Morty jumped at the shattering sound the tv made as it cut out and crashed to the ground.

Suddenly the Rick and Morty jumped apart from where they had been sitting on the couch and immediately turned around to face them. Morty turned to rick, wondering why the fuck he had given away their position like that but soon the alternate versions of them were closing in.

“You alternate fucks! Sta-Stay the aarrgghh fuck away from us!” The other Rick bellowed as he took a step forward, coiling his hand for a wicked punch destined for Ricks face.

It was clear that both sides knew that a fight was going to take place, whether or not they wanted it to.

Morty would have questioned the Ricks choice of words but suddenly he was being pushed into the washing machine behind him. Mortys back slammed painfully into the metal machine as the other Morty jumped on top of him screaming in a war type like cry. He began throwing blind punches aimed right at his face.

It was obvious that this Morty knew a little bit about fighting. But the poor guy was trying at least.

Morty instinctively brought his hands up to the sides of his head, successfully blocking most of the punches. The Morty above him cried out in frustration when he didn't drop his hands and Morty took the opportunity to headbutt him. He rammed the top of his head against the other's jaw at a breaking speed.

The Morty instantly let go and covered his bloody mouth before he cried out, “R-Rick!” His voice bubbled slightly, cutting off his panic filled voice and Morty could tell that some of his teeth had probably broken off in his mouth.

Morty leaned back, startled at the response.

The crying out part wasn't what had Morty suddenly frozen but rather it was who he had cried out for. Morty scrambled back and blinked his threes eyes profusely when the other Rick actually managed to shout back from somewhere inside the living room.

“Just hold o-on! I am ueeerggghh kind of busy! Just… K-Kick the Morty's ass!” The Rick sounded like he was actually worried about his Morty…

H-How?

How was that possible?

Mortys mind drew a blank.

Morty snapped out of his thoughts when the Morty, with still one hand over his rosy mouth, clocked Morty in the face with a well aimed punch. Morty bit back tears and jammed an elbow into the other throat as he threw everything he had to finish the fight.

Finally after hurling various insults and using random household items as weapons Morty was finally able to pin his alternative self.

Morty then grabbed the back of the Morty's head and slammed it against the wooden floor. There was a sickening scream and a resounding crack from the squirming body below him but Morty found he couldn't stop.

crack

Crack

CRACK

Morty finally let go when a thick trail of smeared blood was dripping steadily from the Morty's bruised head. The Morty was still jerking, still trying to fight him but he was now too weak to actually do any actual damage.

Morty let go of the other, pushing away the disgust he felt to the back of his mind. He hadn't meant to taken this that far… But… at least now the Morty wouldn’t trouble them anymore.

And now he could focus on getting the portal gun.

Morty ducked behind the couch, turning his attention towards the two fighting Ricks, who were interlocked closely into a heated battle, throwing speedy well aimed blows and insults that didn't quite reach Morty's ears while they both scrambled towards a gun that was out of both of their reaches.

Mortys third eye spotted the other Rick's portal gun broken and smashed on the floor.

Fuck.

Mortys eyes narrowed. Great, he thought, now they were going to have to find the tools in the garage and fix it themselves. And who knows how much time they had before this Rick and Morty's family came home.

Mortys eyes darted toward the garage. He should probably make a beeline for the garage and grab what tools he thought could help fix their portal gun and just let Rick fight for himself.

But…

Mortys eyes darted towards back towards the two Ricks who were fighting furiously. Rick was sweating and panting already, obviously exhausted but still managing to put up a good fight…

Morty started.

He could also just let the other Rick possibly kill him.

…

While Morty stood frozen, the other Rick finally managed to fumble his fingers around a gun on the couch. He swung it around and pointed it at his Rick with a cry of victory, opposed to his Rick who went stiff in response.

“Okay, no more fuuuuucccking funny business.” The Rick burped furious, sounding ready to spill Ricks brains out.

“What do you want-”

Mortys brain panicked and before he could stop himself he was already moving, his body acting on the instinct of opportunity.

Morty lunged in front of Rick, snapping his foot upwards into a high and well aimed kick that in a blink of an eye easily knocked that stupid gun out of the Ricks hands…

Or rather would have.

Morty had fucking hesitated and his expertly thrown kick had stuttered half way through.

The realization had struck him him in mid-move that the obvious instinctive karate move he was using didn't match his Morty's persona at all. His Morty was weak, pathetic even.

It was way to suspicious but he had already fucked up.

But -to Morty's horror- that slight hesitation had given the Rick the perfect chance.

Not a second later a searing blistering hot pain had exploded in Morty's shoulder and he crumpled to the ground as he screeched blindly in pain.

Morty didn't just panic and cry… no, he panicked -while- he began to desperately looked for the wound that was making him feel like he was burning alive. And while Morty's movements felt like he was swimming underwater, his brain screamed that he needed to put pressure on the wound.

He-He didn't want to die! Not fucking yet!

But…

Morty's shaking fingers froze in their ministrations on his torso.

While he definitely fucking felt the pain… Morty couldn't find or even see a bullet wound anywhere on the front of him.

His shirt wasn't even stained red at all.

Morty slowly followed the source of the pain and reached behind him to touch his back with seizing hands. His fingers met with a sickly wet liquid and he could now feel the blood that was beginning to drip down his backside in thick globs.

Mortys brain reeled.

He had been shot from behind…

And the other Morty had been knocked unconscious so it couldn't have been him.

… His Rick…

Mortys entire body shivered as his vision faltered. His instincts were telling him to put pressure on the wound, or to at least try and find some bandages, to do anything, something!

But Morty could only stare at his fingers, covered in his own blood.

…

…

…

…

Out of nowhere someone grabbed Morty by the shoulders, seemingly unaware that they were digging one of their hands into the fresh wound causing Morty's vision to dance and him to cry out in muffled pain.

He felt the pain, but he also felt numb…

“... There? Morty, we… Hey… find some…”

The voice… That was Rick…

Morty peered up at the familiar face to stabilize himself. But it was getting harder and harder to think clearly.

Morty watched dimly as this universe's Rick ran towards his own Morty and began yelling incoherent grief stricken words.

Mortys breathed heavily as he watched the double of them showing affection for each other. Even through his hazy mind he felt a spark of emotion.

Humiliation burned at him, brighter than any physical pain could inflict. And while he knew it was wrong he still wanted them both dead. They had to pay for ruining his cover!

Oh, god. He wanted those two to go away, even if it meant he would die.

Morty shoved Rick away from him slurring, “G-Go get... t-t-them!” He ground out in a desperate tone of voice that sounded pathetic. Morty propped himself against the couch, weakly shoving Rick away again with a bloodied hand as he heaved in pain.

Also there was a gun. He dimly remembered that there being a gun… Someone had a gun! His mind feverishly told him.

“... Ahh… A… gauun… Uhhhh… N-No...” Morty tried to say and his his head fell forward. The pain was beginning to creep back, like fire ants slowing consuming his body. Mortys body thrashed unconsciously but he was barely aware of it.

Morty couldn't help the tears that ran down his cheeks. Ohhh… The pain! It-It wouldn't go away. Morty could feel his vision starting to get dark and he welcomed the feeling with open arms and breathless sobs because any feeling had to be better than this.

All Morty felt was confusion when the last thing he seen was the soft glow coming from his Rick's own portal gun. 


	10. Phones, Pools, Pets and Cigarettes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick is secretly distraut about accidentaly shooting Morty, way more than a Rick ever should feel.

_Beep_

  
_Beep_

  
_Beep_

  
_Beep_

  
_Beep_

  
Why… W-Why did his limbs feel so heavy?

  
_Beep_

_  
Beep_

_  
Beep_

_  
Beep_

  
Morty sucked in a deep breath.

A burning sensation was trickling down his shoulder. It was coiled around him like a snake, silently squeezing him tighter and tighter and tighter. The feeling was abrupt and Morty found himself being thrown violently out of his sleepy half-unconscious state.

  
_Beep_

_  
Beep_

_  
Beep_

  
All three of Morty's eyes flung open perplexed. But before he could wonder what woke him, his nose caught the scent of something bitter. He frantically looked around.

He wasn't in his room.

Panic gripped Morty's fragile heart.

  
_Beep_

_  
Beep_

Jerkingly bolting upright Morty promptly fell off the couch, tangling himself in a blanket that twisted around his sweaty body. The burst of adrenaline being forced through his blood and hazy state made Morty entirely miss the familiar living room, along with so many other details that would have told him where he was, had he looked.

Morty felt deathly and the sluggishness of his thinking and movements made it feel like he was trying to run underwater.

And the feeling absolutely terrified him.

The fearful sensation of not being able to move the way he wanted had Morty determined that he’d been drugged. And that was a good enough reason to panic.

Than, like a rubber band snapping back, Morty's arm was suddenly sent ablaze with pain as he fell to the floor with a cushioned thud. Something unseen was pulling his arm painfull taut and Morty just wanted to be free of it.

Had he been handcuffed?

Stuck on instinct Morty thrashed harshly, frantically trying to wiggle out of the blankets in order to see what (or rather who) he was up against. In response a blast of searing pain, way worse than before, had Morty seeing stars. As soon as his vision came back, Morty noticed that his hand was suddenly free from whatever had been restricting it earlier.

And he was now able to get free of the blankets wrapped around him. Untangling himself stiffly, Morty was finally able to start calming down.

He stared at the familiar yellow stained walls around him.

He was able to see that he was in Rick's living room.

_Beep_

The noise caught Morty off guard. He vaguely remembered hearing that same noise repeatedly as he woke up but the memory felt more like a dream.

It had come from the tv.

The thing was flashing every few seconds as it let out a quiet yet sharp beeping sound. Waves, of what Morty presumed was his heartbeat, were scrawling across the constantly moving screen. The newly modified cable box caught Mortys eye and he followed a wire snaking out from it to a white short circular object that was around one of his fingers. It reminded Morty of something a hospital would have. An empty IV was resting next to the couch, covered in bloody fingerprints that made Morty shiver.

Wires were also coming out from under his shirt and Morty poked at the wires experimentally. They seemed to be connected to his chest by electrodes. Morty rubbed his arm and was surprised when something wet squashed itself against his skin, sending the hairs up on the back on his neck. Morty brought his hand to his face and was surprised to see that thick maroon blood was smeared across his fingers.

The ends of Morty's mouth turned downwards.

He was apparently bleeding from what looked like a recent wound on his arm.   
Morty glanced to the empty IV, and then at the blood tipped needle on the ground…

Morty also seemed to have ripped out the IV in his arm.

ZZZzzZZZzzzzzzzz

The sound of someone snoring softly -almost peacefully- caused Morty's heart to start to race and he sluggishly looked to his left and down.

… It was Rick.

Morty didn't know who he had been expecting… But it certainly had not been Rick.

The blue haired man had his back pressed against the end of the couch in what looked to be an uncomfortable and spine aching position. His entire body was eerily slumped forward and by the messy hair and sunken bags under his eyes it was made obvious to Morty that Rick hadn't slept for a while.

Morty squinted… What was look Rick so overworked?

Mortys third eye than trailed to the practically clean living room, the noisy tv, to the other multiple nameless machines at the edge of the living room and then to some bloodstained sheets in the corner. He dragged his moon sized eyes towards the IV and all the machines connected to him… And than to the red stained bandages poking out from under his shirt sleeve.

Him.

Rick had been taking care of him.

Morty should've guessed… But the thought still shocked him more than he would have liked to admit.

But the surprise was quickly overcame with a cry of muffled agony when a sudden wave of pain threatened to knock him off his feet. Morty righted himself, falling back onto the couch, careful to make sure that all the wires coming from under his shirt and his finger didn't get pulled or ripped out. Who knows what their exact purpose was.

The pain was starting to get out of control and Morty finally noticed most of it was all radiating from his shoulder. Morty dug his dull teeth deep into his arm, the dull points sinking into his own flesh in order to help take his mind off the pain.

Mortys breathing picked up as he started whimpering. Distantly Morty could hear the faint beeps from the tv increasing rapidly in rate.

Fuck…

Morty gasped, suddenly shot with the feeling that he wasn't getting enough air.

Where had this feeling suddenly come from?

Wo-Wow just… Oh my god… The arrrrrhhhh pain…

“R-Rick?” Morty coughed, trying to be somewhat loud but his voice betrayed him. Tears were pooling in his eyes and he didn't care if Rick judged him or not, he couldnt deal with all the pain.

Ricks eyes were slow to blink open as he slowly woken up from dream land. But when Ricks exhausted and troubled face finally fell upon Mortys hunched form, the man was quick to shoot up off the floor.

“Morty, hey! H-Hey what's wrong?!” Rick declared sharply, his voice still thick with sleep as he rushed to his side. The look on Mortys face and arrhythmic breathing must have been enough because Rick didn't say anything else.

… Or maybe not.

Because Ricks mouth was moving but… Morty didn't hear a thing.

… Not even the beeps from the tv.

Morty was barely aware of the feeling of being gently eased back onto the couch.   
When had he fallen off again?

“I-I-I… U-Uhh.... It-It… I c-can't… “ Simple words refused to form and it frustrated Morty that he couldn't tell Rick how much he was hurting and that he just wanted it to fucking stop.

Through hazy eyes Morty could see Rick messing with the IV and a needle.

Morty dug his fingers into white fabric.

Finally when Morty brought his knees to his chest was when the pain dramatically began to go away, like some dark and twisted dream that he never wanted to remember. God, he just wanted the feeling to be gone.

Deep breaths… Deep breaths…

He wasn't dying.

He was alive.

Rick was here.

…

“Feeling better?” Rick asked tentatively after a few minutes.

The sudden voice caught Morty's attention and he tried to answer but the burning in his throat and dawning humiliation stunned him back to silence. Morty felt a hand gently rubbing against his back and the boy couldn't help but start to relax.

“Shhhhhhhh… J-Just take deep breaths and focus on my voice.”

“O-O-Okay,” Morty was finally able to stutter. The medication or whatever Rick had given him must have been strong because it had taken such a short time to effect him.

“Okay, I uhh really need to see the damage caused when the IV needle was pulled out of your arm.”

Morty wordlessly held out his bloody arm.

Surprise creept into eyes when instead of prodding the tender wound, Rick only peered at it before quickly cleaning it with some liquid in a small bottle and wrapping it with a bandage that came out from nowhere. After Rick was done he slipped next to Morty on the couch.

Rick remained silent.

…

Had he done something wrong Morty wondered. Or was Rick just too tired to talk?

The silence allowed insecurities to fill his mind. And the weird expression on Rick's face only added fuel to the fire. Rick was probably thinking how weak and helpless Morty was…

…

“I-I’m sorry R-R-Rick.”

Morty promptly spouted, wishing the burning sense of shame he felt would sink into the farthest depths of the ocean.

“D-Don't be sorry.” Rick let out a long sigh, glancing away from the tv for a moment, “I was able to get some sleep earlier so it's not a big deal that you woke me-”

“Not about that.” Morty snapped before going quiet. Shit, he shouldn't have said that. It was blatantly clear that Rick was in a bad mood, if the dark look in his eyes was anything to go by.

Ricks hands clenched into soft fists as he spoke quietly, almost... restrainedly?   
“What do you mean Morty?”

Morty stared at the older man. Was he being serious?

Their mission that had gone horribly wrong. The fact that Rick had stayed up for god knows how long because Morty had… because Morty had been stupid.

Maybe than no one would have gotten hurt.

Morty had been shot from behind. When had Rick somehow found a gun? Why hadn't he used it earlier?

The only explanation Morty could think of was he had been hiding it. And Morty had managed to get in the way at the worst possible time.

“Y-You uhhh s-shot me… d-didn’t you?” The words left his mouth before Morty could stomp out his curiosity. He was saying a lot of things he was going to regret later.

Ricks entire body tensed up and Morty immediately knew the answer to his own question.

“... Yeah… I did.”

Rick didn't even deny it. The indifferent tone in Rick's voice had alarms ringing going off in Morty's head. No apology, he didn't care…

Why had Morty thought he would?

…

…

…

They both sat there, dangerous thoughts devouring and consuming their thoughts, rendering them both seemingly speechless. And while Morty couldn't tell what Rick was thinking about, it was obvious by his cast iron expression that he was deep in thought.

…

Rick was beginning to drift off. Every now and again the man would jerk his head back up and his body unconsciously seized up. Rick would then glance over at Morty and they would meet eyes before both of them would promptly look away.

It was the fact that Rick was trying so hard to stay awake and keep an eye on him that was making Morty feel guilty.

“I'll be fine Rick, just go to sleep.”

Morty suddenly pressed, breaking the vow of silence that had settled over them. He did not like at all how sucken and depressed Rick looked. It was so different from his carefree sarcastic demeanor… It disturbed him.

“Nope.” Rick sighed loudly as he shook his head “I-I need to ahh stay awake.”

Morty paused for a few moments before shaking his head in defeat.

He couldn't help a person who didn't want to be helped. Plus his own exhaustion was starting to drag him back into a sleepy state. Morty closed his eyes as he sunk into the couch.

Hmmm… Sleep would do him some good.

…

…

Morty squirmed, unconsciously shifting to another position as he stayed suspended in an barely like state, trying to unconsciously relieve the uncomfortableness that was digging its way through his body and ruining the sleep he suddenly desperately craved.

…

Morty shifted positions again.

….

Nope, that didn't help either. Morty rolled over so he was on his other side.

  
…

“You okay Morty?” Morty opened his eyes just to see Rick casting him a concerned look that reeked of pity. It seemed Rick that had noticed his inability to fall asleep.

“Uhhh…” Morty opened his eyes and trailed off, wondering if he should tell Rick that the pain from his injury was coming back. Would he just laugh or actually try to help?   
Morty didn't know how to answer so he just went quiet and fiddled with the wires snaking out of his shirt. He wondered what they did… Probably something with detecting-

“M-Morty, don't lie to me,” Rick hissed, sounding like he was on his last straw with Morty's bullshit.

Shit this man hated Morty's lying.

“Y-Yeah the pain is coming back b-b-but…” Morty dismissed Ricks concern with a shake of his head. “But it's uhhh nothing I ca-an't handle.”

“Hmmmm…”

Rick tapped his fingers against the couch, looking off in the distance before speaking, “On a scale of 1 to 10, How bad would you say your uhh pain is? 10 being your dying and 1 would be feeling nothing at all.”

Mortys mouth opened slightly, “U-Uhhhh 3? 4?” He squirmed again, trying to hide how much the aching pain was affecting him.

“Huh, weird.” Rick seemed perplexed at Morty's answer. “I based the dose of pain reliever off of your body weight and even gave you a little more for extra measure… “ Rick glanced over Morty, “You sure you're still feeling the pain?

Morty nodded, biting his lip. He wondered if Rick thought he was lying.

“Okay give me a second.” Rick pulled himself off the couch and went over to the IV. After fiddling it with a few minutes, and adding some other liquid to the current bag Rick asked, “How are you feeling now?”

Morty startled awake, not even realizing he had begun to fall asleep again. Oddly enough he was beginning to feel weird… And it Morty found himself taking a long time to answer Ricks simple question.

The feeling reminded him of being high and Morty was quick to decide that he already loved the feeling.

“U-U-Uhhhhh,” Morty slurred, ignoring the feel of his heart unexpectedly fluttering like a desperate bird that had just smashed into a window they couldn't see. The way that Rick was looking at Morty with such concern was making his stomach twist into knots.

He couldn't help what came pouring out of his mouth next.

“... Wow… You're uhh nice. Like r-really, really nice. Nicer than a-a-any other Rick i've e-evah met.” He looked up at Rick, eyes veiled with a hopeless expression. A voice in the back was screaming at him to shut up but he ignored the feeling.

Morty leaned back against the couch, sinking into it like it was trying to engulf him. His mind drifted off.

It was going to destroy him when he was going to have to kill Rick…

The warmth running through his body, laced with a dull distant ache reminded him that the pain medicine was definitely working now. Too bad it was only going to stay in his system for a short period of time…

… How long was this peaceful charade going to last?

Morty maybe even mumbled out loud that last thought. He really didn't know. As it was beginning to get hard to separate the swirling sensation of his feelings from reality.

Morty slumped forward, burying his suddenly tear stained face in his stiff hands. He hadn't even noticed that he had started crying.

“I'm sorry Rick, I'm so sorry. Im sorry, im sorry, im sorry…” Morty repeated over and over again. But unlike movies he wasn't hugged, wasn't told that everything was going to be okay.

No, instead he watched as Rick disappeared into a puff of black fog that forced his eyes closed.

…

Had any of that even been real? 


	11. Humans can only derive enjoyment from a contrast.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically fluff, finally!

“Come on, just a little bite.” Rick kept pestering Morty. The older man had barely ate any of the food on his own plate but he somehow had the balls to tell Morty that he needed to eat.

Morty weakly shook his head again, pushing his plate away with a shaky grip, “I-I can’t... I told you Rick i’m go-going to throw up if I-I do.”

And while Morty did feel bad that Rick had gone out of his way to cook his favorite food, Morty's nausea was making it very clear that he wasn't going to be able to eat anything at the moment.

Rick persistently pushed the plate back towards him, speaking more firmly, “Morty, now that you're finally able to get up and do more than just sleep, y-you really need to eat.” Rick gave him a stern glare that Morty unconsciously mimicked.

Morty knew that he was acting like a child but he did not feel well... at all.

Morty tentatively curled his injured hand that was resting on the table in an attempt to divert Rick's attention. “M-my hand still hurts Ri-Rick. How l-long is it going to be until I-I can use it?” He started fiddling with the bandages, “I know you said that it h-h-had been infected and then that spread to my bullet w-wound because of m-my ‘horrible care’ but-”

Rick snapped impatiently, “D-Don't change the subject Morty. I-I’m being serious.”

Rick cast a hard look over at Morty and then stated pointedly,   
“Eat.”

Morty furrowed his eyebrows in frustration.   
He honestly thought about standing up and leaving the room just to piss Rick off…

But no, Morty huffed, he wouldn't. Rick was only trying to help him and he was already being enough of a nuisance.

“Fine.”

And than in his head he muttered, ‘If I throw up it's not my fault than.’

Morty picked up his fork, watching a smug looking Rick from out of the corner of his eye as he hesitantly looked at the food laid out in front of him.

He stabbed a piece of food with his fork and brought it up to his mouth. But instead of pausing and dwelling on the reeling feeling in his gut and how badly the nausea he had was, Morty just shoved the entire bite in his mouth.   
To get it done and over with so Rick could finally stop worrying about him like some fucking overprotective mother.

Hmmm…   
Morty tentatively chewed the food.

He hummed in surprise when he didn't immediately vomit.

“O-Okay,” Morty swallowed, “I'm done.” He pushed the plate even farther away this time. He still didn't really feel hungry but on the positive side he didn't throw up all over the table.

“Ahh come on, don't you want another bite? I know you must be starving and I'd rather have you eat than have to feed you through the IV again.” Morty didn't miss that worried glance Rick tried to mask with a chuckle.

Well… Morty guessed. The food really hadn't been too bad…

Morty sighed and took another bite.

He chewed and swallowed again. “I g-guess th-that wasn't so-”

Morty suddenly threw his hand over his mouth and made a beeline like a madman to the bathroom, barely managing to make it to the toilet before he began to spew out his guts. Morty then transitioned to dry heaving when his stomach came up empty. He held onto the toilet with clenched white knuckled fingers.

Morty waited for Rick to rush into the room and try to help him, to do something even if it was just standing there… but after a couple minutes Morty realized his hopes had been misplaced. As Rick never even came to check up on him.

Morty felt tears prick at his eyes.

This sucked. The entire situation sucked. This was humiliating. He felt weak… and Rick wasn't even here.

Fuck… Morty violently dry heaved into the toilet again… He hated throwing up. And the feeling never got better.

Finally, when the convulsion to bring up the nonexistent food in his stomach died down, Morty stood up on shaky feet. He quickly washed his face before walking back into the kitchen, nausea now worse than it had been before.

“I-In here!”

Morty followed Rick's voice to the dining room.

Morty rolled his eyes tiredly upon entering the crowded and messy room. Rick was once again working on that stupid machine. After moving it to the dining room Rick had been taking every spare moment he could to work on it, in between caring for Morty.

“How are you feeling?” Rick asked, glancing up at Morty when the boy shakily walked into the room and took a seat on a nearby chair. But before Morty had the chance to say that he felt like shit, he was interrupted,   
“Any trouble breathing? Any unexplained numbness? Ar-Are you having any trouble speaking?”

“N-No.” Morty quickly shook his head, an eyebrow raised in confusion, “What's w-with those… re-really specific questions?... And stop h-hovering over me.I-I’m n-not some fragile doll y-you know.” Morty chuckled uneasily, despite being dead serious.

“Because I kind of might have…” Rick suddenly shifted his head, his glasses almost sliding off of his face, “...used some kind of alien medicine to faster heal that w-wound on your shoulder and to stop you from bleeding out. And... I kind of don’t know if it worked on humans so there's a slight possibility it might stop your heart or clog your arteries… Basically it -might- kill you.” Rick said shrugging it off like it was no big deal.

He than grabbed his hammer before returning to work on his machine, not even sparing a glance up at Morty.

Mortys third eye widened.

“Ohhh… O-O-Okay.” Was all he could stutter out.

What the fuck was he supposed to say to that?

Rick had probably been in a rush when they got back from that horrible fucking mission and Morty understood that. Too many times it had been him panicking after a bad fight and saying ‘fuck it’ and taking a risk that could possibly kill him. Morty could understand that. Plus it was already done so there really was no point in getting mad…

And Ricks kind of did what they wanted anyway.

“Uhhhh Rick? Why didn't y-y-you uhh just take me t-to a hospital than?” Morty couldn't hold back the question. He knew that humans doctors were never as good as alien ones but they could still have easily fixed up a bullet wound.

“Uhh…” Rick faltered, momentarily stopping his work on the machine to look off in the distance as if the thought had only now just crossed his mind, “I-I kinda… d-didn't even think about that… T-To be honest with you.”

Morty chuckled, rolling his third eye at Ricks answer. He had kind of expected that.

Morty sank further back into his chair, tiredness already seeping into his drugged mind (he was still on pain meds after all, just not as heavy of a dose). And after being bedridden for fucking days now Morty was more than thankful he could at least stand up and walk around… Even if it was only for a short period of time.

The past couple days were vague in Morty's mind. He remembered when he first woke up and had freaked out… and then Rick giving Morty pain medication… But anything beyond that he couldn't really recall.

But according to Rick after that he had mainly slept.

…

Ricks distant voice suddenly broke through his hazy mind.

“Morty if you're going to clock out, go sleep on the couch. I-I already told you that I don't want you sleeping around this thing. It's a-a-a prototype and I-I'm not going to let you get hurt right after I just saved your fucking ass…”

Morty didn't answer, or even nod to show Rick he had heard him.

…

For a few moments everything went silent and Morty thought he had just started to drift off again but then Rick spoke up, sounding quite agitated.

“You don't even care do you?” Rick let out a long sigh.

“Nope.” Morty agreed right before he began to fall asleep again.

…

…

…

Morty didn't know how long he slept but it was still light out when he opened his eyes so not too long. He rubbed his eyes, squirming around on the uncomfortable chair as he yawned loudly, suddenly wishing he had thought to grab a blanket.

The low familiar hum coming from the machine and the occasional clank of metal against metal almost caused Morty to fall right back to sleep because he was so used to it.

Morty still felt so tired… Yet he had also slept most of the day.

Sitting up slowly, Morty stretched out his stiff arms, wishing now that he had chosen to have slept on the couch and not on the floor. Looking more awake than he felt, Morty turned his attention towards Rick who was still feverishly working on his invention.

Morty fell silent as he observed Rick who seemed so caught up in his work that he hadn't noticed that Morty was awake.

Rick kept loosing screws and it magically seemed that every time he moved, another wire would snap just to spite him. And then after he would fix that, a crystal would pop out of the side. Than the motherboard started emitting smoke. And… It just looked like a fucking mess.

“Umm R-Rick? I-I was th-thinking that m-m-maybe you know… Maybe you uhh sh-should take a b-break.” Morty spoke softly, noticing that every time Rick would fix something, it would break practically seconds later.

“Uhh kind of can't Morty…” Rick panted, hands flying everywhere, “This f-fucking thing needs to get done. And I'm already so fucking behind schedule and the council has been on my fucking ass about getting this stupid shit machine done and I have yet still to reconfigurate the system so it will run more smoothly…”

“Correct me if i'm wrong but it kind of… looks more like your doing more bad than good at this point.” Morty pointed out, hoping Rick wouldn't be too stubborn to dismiss his advice.

Rick sent Morty a look he couldn't quite place… Before going right back to what he had been doing.

Morty huffed.

He wasn't stupid. But Morty certainly knew he wasn't a genius either. Morty would offer to help Rick out himself (which included doing more than just handling stupid unmeaningful jobs like fetching him tools) but Rick would think that he wouldn't be able to do it.

So Morty just watched as Rick fumbled and sputtered to repair with his giant ass half broken machine that seemed to be splitting apart at the seams.

…

After Rick clumsily dropped his tool for the 50th time, Morty took pity on him and repeated his earlier statement.

“H-How about we play some cards or something?... Uhh n-no offense but you are really j-j-just making it worse at this point.” Morty motioned to the machine, “And a b-break will help y-you relax and you'll ge-get more done than you uhh would have if you keep pu-pushing yourself.”

Though Rick would probably never admit it, the man looked absolutely exhausted. And if he wouldn't take a nap, well than the very least Rick could do was relax.

Rick only huffed at Morty's comments, making no move to actually stop.

“Okay,” Morty leaned back and just silently watched as Rick faltered and kept having to redo every part that he supposedly ‘fixed’. Rick was quickly becoming irritated, if it wasn't evident by the way he kept throwing his tools around loudly and using more force than necessary to bend the frame back into shape.

His last crystal shattering must have been his breaking point because Rick froze, his entire body freezing up before he slammed his fist down onto a large metal sheet in a fit of anger.

Morty had been thrown out of his sleepy daze by the loud Ccccclank!

Rick then slowly turned so he faced Morty.

“Y-You uhh want to play cards still?” Rick finally asked looking up at Morty with a strained smile as he tossed his wrench behind him.

“Pfft o-o-of course. I'm t-the uhhh one t-that asked in t-the first pl-place.” Morty mumbled as his third eye shifted to the right so he could look into the other room, “W-Where do y-you keep your playing cards anyway?”

…

After the first couple of rounds of Rick winning, Morty was quickly able to gain the upperhand and start to beat him. Soon a couple wins turned into a 10 game winning streak. And it was a riot to watch Rick gradually become more and more determined to figure out how Morty was cheating and then win.

Rick tossed his cards down on the kitchen table, a confident grin on his face. “See I knew I would win! There was no way you could have p-possibly won again...” The older man trailed off as Morty laid down his cards.

“H-How did you possibly fucking win again!”

Rick eyed Morty, “How in the hell are you f-fucking cheating?” He leaned toward Morty, eyes squinting behind the blue frames of his glasses in a playful accusative manner.

Morty shrugged, acting like he didn't have a clue. “L-Luck?”

But he had to fight to keep the grin off his face.

Rick narrowed his eyes, not seeming to believe Morty for a second. But he remained quiet as if running through different theories and trying hard to figure out how Morty had won yet again. Rick opened his mouth for a second as if to speak but just shut his mouth, as if deciding it wasn't worth saying.

“I can't help that y-y-you're so easy to read!” Morty laughed as Rick floundered, “And I-I’m going to guess that y-you were probably going to say something like ‘I'm glad we're not betting anything or I’d end up homeless…. Right?”

Rick went pale, “H-H-How the fuck did you know that?”

“I’m telling you i-i-it's the third eye! I can se-see the future.” Morty burst up laughing. He really didn't, but if he did that would be a good skill on the streets to make money.

But Rick looked at Morty like he was very much considering the outrageous idea.

Rick shook his head and finally started shuffling and then dealt them both cards… again. But as he did that Morty found himself drifting off in thought…   
Most recently to the machine Rick was slaving over for.

What was the machine he kept working on so intently even for?

“Umm… Rick?” Morty said, his third instinctively turning to look at Rick.

“Hmm, yeah?” Rick muttered, seeming caught up with staring intently at the back of Morty's cards. He already looked deep in thought about how he was going to try and beat Morty this time.

“What is t-that machine even s-s-supposed to do?” Morty shifted in his seat, debating on if he could sneak outside for a cigarette soon.

“Well, it's like a…” Rick paused, as if thinking about how he should word his next statement, “It's… kind of like a metal detector? I work for the citadel and they wanted something to be put in all the entrances that can detect the transmissions coming from any and all portal guns and log them into the main computers so they can keep a close eye on who has what when... S-Someone broke into the system a month ago and guess who has to-”

Halfway through his explanation, Rick began exasperatingly waving his arms around and happened to hit Morty on the back.

Searing hot pain suddenly zapped down between Morty's shoulderblades and he bit back a whimper.

Mortys teeth snapped shut like a steel trap on his lip as he forced himself to remain silent through the dazzling pain that felt like fireworks were exploding in his back before trailing down his spine.

Morty managed to force a calm mask on his face as Rick took another card off the pile. Morty nervously glanced over at him realizing that the man seemed to be completely oblivious to what had just happened.

Pushing away the feeling that he needed to check his injury Morty went back to the card game they were playing, not even missing a beat. After a couple more rounds of Morty winning, did Rick finally managed to win his third game.

“Finally!” The man threw his hands up into the air in victory (along with all his cards), moving to slap Morty on the shoulder before he could stop Rick.

The touch, despite being gentle, reawakened the agony tugging at his back. Morty slumped forward, trembling hands squashing the cards firmly in his grip as he focused on simply calming his breathing.

“Uhhh hey Morty, no need to be such a sore loser…” Rick trailed off, noticing something was off about Morty. “M-Morty! Oh my-my god i'm so sorry. I-I didn’t even think about your-”

“I-I… I-I.. Sh-Shit… Fuck. M-My shoulder.” Morty was finally able to spit out through clenched teeth.

Without another word Morty shakily pulled up his shirt in the back, displaying the clean bandages wrapped around his shoulder and back. “C-Can you j-just check my injury R-Rick? I-I think you mi-might have re-reopened it.” Morty said out of breath and just wanting the blinding white pain to stop.

Rick nodded apologetically before slowly peeling off the wrapped bandages. Morty was surprised to see (out of the corner of his eye) only a big angry circular red mark in place of where a huge gaping bloody wound had been just days before.

Rick shock seemed to have wore off because he smiled proudly, “See I-I knew that alien stuff w-would work!”

Morty just nodded his head, glad the pain was quickly lowing to a bearable level. And that Rick hadn’t worsened his injury in some way.

Than Rick tentatively touched the red mark, and black spots seeped into Morty's vision. And feeling like he was going to throw up Morty hissed, “St-Stop.”

“Sorry. I didn't realize it would still b-be so sensitive…” Rick remarked, seeming curious. “But you're not going to die from infection so i'll take this over that…” Than Rick muttered under his breath, a lot lower so he thought Morty couldn't hear. “J-Just thank god you didn't die.”

Mortys face blazed a bright right red, unsure how he was supposed to take what he just heard.

So instead he just sputtered out, “Rick… I had been counting cards.”

Ricks head snapped up, his eyes lingering on Morty's face for a few seconds before he jumped up and shouted playfully, “You cheating li-little shit! Y-You're going to pay for all those games I lost!”

“Hmm, yeah totally,” Morty replied sarcastically. “You want to play a-a-another round? N-No cheating this time?”

“Oh, y-you're on.” Rick grinned.

…

The rest of the day passed by pretty uneventfully. Rick went back to working on his metal detector invention after a couple rounds of Rick winning (having been way more successful this time) and Morty took another short nap in between helping Rick.

But as soon as it got dark, Morty was ready to go to bed, despite sleeping most of the day. Probably another side effect of that alien medicine that Rick had put on his wound, Morty noted.

But when Morty walked up the stairs and to his room, Rick soon followed after him.

Which was not surprising until he knocked on Morty's door with a pillow and blanket under his arm. Morty frowned, knowing exactly what Rick wanted to do.

“No, you are not sleeping in my room. W-W-We already talked about this.” Morty ground out harshly as he stood in the doorway, blocking the entrance to his room as best he could.

“Yes-”

Rick immediately pushed weakly pushed past him (careful not to touch his bandaged arm) and waltzed right into the room, Morty practically helpless to stop him.

“-I am.”

Morty glared at Rick, not liking how his privacy was suddenly being invaded.

“I need to monitor you M-Morty… So come on, ju-just accept the fact. I've been by your side for about a week now, this is no different. So stop making this fucking awkward.” Rick rolled his eyes at Morty a look before he readjusted the glasses on his face.

“Okay,” Morty sighed begrudgingly. He knew when he wasn't going to win the argument. When Rick wanted something, no one was going to stop him. Stubborn old man…

Morty had learned this the hardway.

Without another word Morty crawled on his bed, not even bothering to crawl under the blankets. He was tired and he didn't care if Rick was going to have to sleep on the floor. As long as Rick didn't bother him or stand and creepily watch Morty as he slept Morty didn't care.

Morty shut his eyes. Yeah, he'd fall asleep in no time.

…

…

…

Okay. He may have lied there.

Morts eyes darted to the clock on his nightstand.

11:34

He rolled over, trying to find a more comfortable position but his body simply refused to sleep.

12:01

Morty sat up, massaging his scalp with stressed and frustrated hands. Maybe if he stayed up a little bit he would eventually get tired?

12:29

Fuck, he was still wide awake. He started counting sheep.

1:14

Yeah, nothing was working. Which meant if he was lucky he would get one or two hours of sleep.

1:44

Was it because he had slept all day?

2:09

… Maybe a cigarette would help him sleep?

Morty still had a couple left in the new pack that the Rainbow Morty had given him. He hadn't been to Morty Daycare lately but he could get a refill when he did. Morty really hadn't believed the other Morty at first when he said that all he had to do was rough up a couple of Morty's, which turned out to be nothing too violent and he now had a sturdy supply of cigarettes. (He sadly had to deny the alien weed).

Morty rolled over and peered at Rick's still form on the floor.

Was he sleeping yet?

When after a few minutes of nothing but the man's chest rising slowly up and down, Morty began to agonizingly slowly slip off the bed, eyes darting to Rick every so often to make sure the man was still asleep.

As soon as both his feet quietly hit the ground, Morty stood up. He had a little bit sense of where the creaky floorboards so all he had to do was-

“C-Can't sleep Morty?”

Morty let out an inhuman sounding cry as he jumped back.

“I-I was just getting a d-d-drink of water!” He instantly stated, well more like shouted. It was a lie that sounded even fake and too forced to his own ears.

“Okay whatever M-Morty. I d-don't really care.” Rick said as he fumbled around on the ground above his head for his glasses. His fingers finally wrapped around them and he was quick to put his glasses back on.

Sitting carefully back down on his bed, Morty nodded dully, his heart still beating frantically in his chest.

“Why are you even up M-Morty?” Rick sat up, eyes blinking open tiredly in the dark. “Well you did sleep most of the day… But then again you're never able to sleep at night…”

Morty turned his head towards Rick, biting his lip. He didn't know that Rick had noticed his insomniac nights.

Rick was looking at him oddly.

“What?” Morty asked.

“Why do you hate Ricks so much?”

The question completely threw Morty off guard.   
“W-What?” He croaked, not believing he heard Rick right.

“I know you heard me… Why do you hate, or rather fear Ricks so much?” Rick glanced at him, a sad smile plastered on his face.

“Uhhh… “ Morty's breathing picked up, “I-I me-mean uhhh… I g-guess… R-Ricks just a-are… I-I uhhh.... I-I-I uhhhhhhh… I… I… I-I….”

Morty didn't know what to say. What was he even supposed to say?

“I-I-I don't know.” He finally breathed out, hands bunched up in his blankets.

“I-Is the pain your back keeping you up?” Rick was instantly off the ground and at Morty's bedside, looking way too concerned.

Mortys lips tugged into a frown.

Forcing himself to ignore the twinge of annoyance from Rick's constant worry over him Morty shook his head. “Actually my arm...” Morty lied, pretending to look a little sheepish. He wanted to see what Rick would do. Would he give him some more pain medicine? Would that help him sleep?

“H-Hold on a second.” Rick stated before shuffling out of the room and to the bathroom across the hall. There was a brief shuffling as if Rick was sorting through something cluttered before it got quiet and he strolled back into the room.

As he peeled the bandages off Morts arm, a dull pink color coming from inside the open first aid kit caught Mary's eye.

“Oh I seen t-those earlier, when I first got here-” Morty exclaimed as he picked up an old hello kitty so he could look at it closely, “-And I meant to ask you about them. Are those ju-just the kind of band aids you like or…?” Morty trailed off, remembering back to when he had seen that kids shampoo under the sink too.

“You never answered my earlier question so I'm not answering yours.”

Morty practically jumped out of his skin when Rick -without any warning- ripped the thing out of his hand and threw it back in the first aid box before slamming the thing shut.

“I respect that you've got your secrets… but I also have mine.” And with that Rick stood up and left the room.

After Morty shoved how much Rick had just scared him to the back of his mind, he began to wrap his arm back up. So much for getting any pain pills…

But Rick's actions reminded him of an old friend… Well more like a friend he had used to know. She was the first decent alien she met after he ran away. The alien had lost her husband in a break-in gone wrong. And… she was never the same after that. It had been so depressing to watch her spiral out of control.

But she had freaked out and even had a panic attack when Morty accidentally walked into her dead husband's room when trying to find the bathroom in a drunken state… And after Morty helped her calm down, she had than explained to him why she freaked out so badly. And Morty remembered feeling so horrible.

Morty looked out his window.

He really missed her…

Too bad she ended up committing suicide… And he had the luck to be the person to walk in on her dead mutated body.

…

Had Rick lost someone close to him? His kid maybe? A daughter?

Morty didn't know. But know he knew not to bring anything like that up again. Sometimes scars faded but they would always remain tattooed to your skin like a constant reminder. And any brush against them could feel like wildfire.

Morty finished unwrapping his hand just as Rick walked back into the room.

“I-I’m sorry,”

Rick spoke softly, rubbing the back of his neck, “I-I didn't m-mean to-to… It's just a touchy subject, okay? I don't really want to talk about it...”

Morty simply nodded before extending his arm to Rick so he could check his faded injury (where he tore the IV out by accident). It was just like his back, in the sense that all that was left was a small red mark in place of actual wounds.

Rick started stroking his fingers over the raised angry mark. But when Morty tried to tug his hand free because of the weird menstruations, Rick simply remarked, “I’m checking something,”

The touch felt weird and Rick was invading his personal space. Morty couldnt help but try to pull his arm away again.

“Come on Morty. I-I'm not hurting you right?” Rick asked, holding his arm more tightly. “Plus I forgot that I need to make sure I plucked out all the glass shards… or rather the ones that you missed.” He tagged on, mumbling sharply, pressing rather hard on one spot (probably on purpose!).

Morty was about to protest, but the crude words quickly dissipated off his tongue. Ricks fingers rubbing over his hand ever so gently felt… good. Rick probably had no clue it was making Morty feel so weird too.

It was oddly nice.

As the soft gentle motion continued Morty laid back onto his bed, suddenly feeling exhausted.

He shouldn't feel so affected by Rick's touch but it felt so… relaxing.

…

…

It took a few moments for Morty to realize that Rick had stopped, but when he did he noticed that Rick had fallen asleep leaning against the wall, his hand still firmly grasping Mortys.

And while the situation felt weird Morty was too tired to try and wedge his hand out of Ricks without waking him up. The man looked peaceful for once and Morty knew how much Rick needed a decent sleep for at least one night.

Morty gently eased Rick into a more comfortable position onto the bed, being careful not to wake him. And Morty laid down not far from him (it was only a twin bed after all) and snuggled under the blankets, deciding he was too exhausted to care much more about how Rick was in his personal bubble.

Morty stared at where their hands laid interconnected as he drifted off, trying his hardest to ignore the feeling of unfamiliar warmth that flooded his chest.

Maybe… (Just maybe) not all Ricks were bad. 


	12. Reversal of the heart

“Fuck!”

Morty cursed under his breath, frantically looking through the crowds of Ricks and Morty’s for his own Rick. He was currently standing outside of Morty daycare because he had just gotten kicked out. But the bad part was that a Rick employee had called Rick to come pick him up and…

And Morty just knew that Rick was going to be furious.

Not because Morty had gotten into a fight with some other Morty's (and kicked their asses if he may add), but rather because Rick had already missed a week of work as he had been taking care of Morty… and now this!

Rick must have gotten his ass chewed out for having to miss more work, even if it was only to quickly drop Morty off at the house.

And Rick had been so stressed after finally finishing his invention…

Morty lowered his head, willing for his heart to stop racing and his breathing could become more even. His body was still in fight mode, ready to attack or flee at the sight of danger. Morty bit his lip harshly, shuffling back and forth in front of Morty Daycare, waiting.

He was dead… So fucking god damn shitting dead…

Morty couldn't hide the anxiety he felt when Rick finally strolled into view. With an uneasy gaze Morty searched Rick's face, searching for rage. Morts heart sunk into his chest when Rick looked exactly like he thought he would.

“Fuck Morty!” Rick grumbled, stomping his foot dramatically upon walking up to Morty. “You have no clue h-how furious I was when I got a call at work saying that you had gotten kicked out of fucking daycare!” Morty stayed silent as Rick pointed his portal gun behind him and created a portal to straight to their house.

“I had to stop everything I had been working on!… But no, that's not what i'm mad about. Oh no-” Rick hissed as they both walked through the swirling green portal, Rick talking the entire time.

“-Morty what did you even get in trouble for?!” What the hell did you do?” Rick asked after a few moments of silence, slicking his hair back before resting his hand on his forehead. “What in the hell did you do that you got kicked out? And at a Mortys Daycare of all the fucking places!” Rick stared at Morty his hand on his hips, waiting for him to explain.

Keeping his third eye cast downwards, Morty looked away, not able to meet Rick's gaze.

“Well?”

The lie quickly tumbled out his worried lips, “I-I got into an argument with another Morty… and I k-kind of threatened h-h-him. And a R-R-Rick overheard so y-yeah. I-I’m sorry..” Morty mumbled, third eye darting up quickly to look at Rick.

“Liar.”

Rick instantly spat as he rolled his eyes under his blue rimmed glasses.

“I-I-I am not!” Morty instinctively shouted back, even though he knew Rick was right.

Rick sent Morty a disbelieving look. “Yeaaaaaaaah wow,” Rick said sarcastically dramatically throwing up his hands, a new harshness in his voice,” I tottttaaaaaalllly believe you! Have you even considered the fact that I-”

“F-Fine, I lied! You're totally rig-right! I promise I won't do it again-” Morty interrupted, taking an unconscious step back from Rick.

“I'm not mad that you lied!” Rick shouted right back. “I'm mad that you fucking got yourself hurt because you got in a fucking fist fight!”

Morty stilled, momentarily shocked “What?... But I-I’m fine Rick. He barely got any hits on me so why are you worried about-”

“You are not! Have you even looked at yourself!” Rick waved his hands, motioning towards Morty's face. “You have a black eye. And there's a huge fucking cut down your face. I've even seen that you were limping!” Rick shouted exasperated.

Mortys body tensed.

Wait, what?

“Wait… Why aren't y-you mad that you had to-to uhhh miss work to come p-pick me up?” Morty stuttered, giving Rick a deer in the headlights look. He didn't understand why Rick was so angry about the fight part of him getting kicked out.

“A-At first.” Rick shrugged, looking guilty, “B-But then I seen that your dumbass was hurt and that you were probably freaking out about how I would react…. I had umm, actually been waiting for this to happen, the ge-getting kicked out of daycare part, s-so not totally surprising but wasn't expecting it this soon… “

Morty didn't know what to say to that.

“Nah…” Rick shrugged, leaning loosely against the counter with a hand. “I-I'm more angry about the fact that you're hurt and didn't even notice!” Rick's eyes narrowed, “They told me everything over the phone. I just wanted to ask you to see what you'd say… Y-Your a pretty fucking good liar, did you know that?”

“Oh.”

Morty couldn't push away the numbness crawling through his body. Rick pushed Morty towards a chair and understanding what Rick wanted, he automatically sat down. There was the shuffling of feet and a few seconds later something cold was being pressed against his face and Morty couldn't even bring himself to utter a word of thanks.

…. Rick wasn't mad at him for getting kicked out? And what about missing moret work?

Rick then turned towards Morty and said something but Morty's reeling mind didn't hear it so he just nodded. Rick then kneeled down and rolled up Morty's pant leg up so he could inspect his leg.

Morty stared at the huge black and blue bruise that trailed from his knee to his ankle. It looked pretty gruesome.

He hadn't even felt anything though…

Morty guessed it was because he had so much anxiety about how Rick would react… And his adrenaline had taken care of the pain during the fight and probably lingered afterwards.

“You got a couple of nasty bruises but nothing's fractured or broken.” Rick said out loud, more to himself than to Morty as he felt his leg carefully. Rick dropped his leg gently before looking back up at Morty.

“How is your back?”

The question startled Morty.

“It-It feels f-f-fine.” Mortal answered honestly, “I don't feel anything.”

Rick let a little pfft at that. “You're probably still feeling some of the adrenaline rush.”

Morty nodded. Much time hadn't passed since the fight and even though his heart was no longer thumping frantically, he knew from past experience that adrenaline rush (and shock) can last for hours.

He had once sliced open his calf on a fence while running away from a gang that he'd pissed off. And Morty hadn't even noticed it until an hour after the accident when he'd gotten to a crowded bar and an alien kid pointed at his leg and asked what the red stuff coming out of him was.

Rick suddenly dumped a bottle with a loud clink in Morty's hand. The boy fumbled to catch the rattling bottle, having not noticed that Rick had left the room.

“W-What are these?” Morty asked suspiciously, holding up the medicine bottle so he could read it.

“It's not poison if that's what you're asking. Its pain medicine. For the pain dumbass.” Rick rolled his eyes. “It's a liquid anti-inflammatory.”

“Ohh,” Morty said, his hands falling limp at his sides. Did Rick really think he couldnt handle the pain?

“Uhh Rick? Why ummm... Why d-do you treat me like i’m some fragile doll? I ca-can handle a-a-a couple bruises an-and a black eye y-you know?” Morty stumbled, not catching the words before they tumbled out of his mouth.

He regretted them instantly. A Rick was finally being nice to him and he had to go and act like a dick.

But the icepack. The medicine. The worry…

It made him feel… Kind of angry.

...

“Because you worry me.”

Rick answered simply, voice barely above a whisper. But the next second the distant look was gone and Rick was back to his old self.

“W-Well I have to go.” Rick drawled as he glanced at his watch, his face suddenly overcome with dread. With a tired shrug he waved at Morty and there was a flash of green light and then he was gone.

…

…

…

  
A couple hours before Rick usually got off work, a portal suddenly appeared in the living room and Rick stepped through looking like he had just had the shittiest day ever.

Why was Rick home so early?

Morty didn't voice his concerns, deciding to remain silent from where he was sitting on the couch.

Rick would probably tell him later so Morty wasn't particularly too worried. As Rick slumbered wordlessly into the kitchen, Morty turned back towards the tv.

He himself had fallen into a slump after Rick left. His family had been far from perfect but being left in this house alone for the first time was… kind of depressing.

“You want one?” Rick popped out of seemingly nowhere, holding out a bottle of beer as he sat at the other end of the couch.

“Oh yeah.” Morty perked up instantly. “T-Thanks.”

Morty almost missed the weird look Rick sent him but the man nonetheless tossed Morty a beer, a tired shrug Ricks only reply.

Morty caught it swiftly, already feeling better But realizing his mistake about that not being a normal Morty reply he piped up. “Y-You know not al-all Morty's have never touched or even dared to get close to alcohol. An empty bottle can be anyone's friend.” Morty tried to joke, his mood already lightening now that he had something familiar in his hand.

“Pffts, I-I know that.” Rick swiftly said, leaning back, arms splayed out. He took a huge swig of his own beer before his gaze turned towards the tv.

“What… What are you even watching?” Rick laughed tiredly as a person from the tv suddenly burst into flames and was forced to run through a huge and complex game show type of obstacle course.

“I-I-I honestly have n-no fucking clue.” Morty shifted his eyes away from the tv (which he had been staring at like a zombie for the past hour) too lost in his own thoughts.

“Hmm…” Was all Rick said, his eyes focused on the tv but anyone could tell that he wasn't really paying much attention either.

Morty sunk deeper into the couch as he opened the beer in his hand with hidden giddy delight and began to down it.

Morty missed this feeling. The burn in his throat was harsh and the cold bottle was cold in his hand but it-

“I got fired today.”

Morts head snapped towards Ricks at his sudden declaration, almost managing to spill his beer all over himself. “Oh my god w-was… Was it b-because of me?... I-I I’m so sorry Rick! I know that I-I messed up but-”

“It wasn't because of you Morty.” Rick quickly stopped Morty, taking another rather large sip of beer from his own can which was firmly clasped his hand, like he was afraid it would jump away at any moment. All of Morty's three eyes swiveled towards Rick. He couldn't tell if Rick was lying or not.

“I-Im sorry t-to hear that.” Morty said softly, not sure what to say.

Rick just nodded numbly.

“Is there anything I could do t-to help? I can… I can…” Morty trailed off, getting lost in what this new revelation changed.

How was Rick going to pay his rent/mortgage? What about groceries? What the hell was the electric bill with all of Rick's inventions requiring it?

Morty understood Ricks unexpected problem way too well.

“Thanks Morty… really but… I d-don't want to think about that right now.”

Morty nodded, trying to think of how he could change the subject. Rick picked up another beer from the pack he brought and started downing it.

Morty figured he was a lightweight so Rick was probably tipsy enough that he could answer this question that had been plaguing Morty...

“Hmm, Rick?… How come yo-you seem kind of paranoid? Like with the house alarm and stuff.” Morty's third eye flickered to Rick's face, watching him intently for any reaction that now wasn't the time to talk about this.

“Well…” Rick slowly scratched his chin, “ I'm not really a paranoid person. It's mainly because of this alien that's trying to kill me. I kind of have to be on guard all the time. I have medication for the anxiety but… it doesn't really help.” Rick answered simply, “Sh-She… ummm… She ummm… She… ”

The light from the tv flickered across Rick's face. And suddenly his face looked to be much much older than he was. Like their was this invisible weight on his shoulders wieghing down his every move.

“Y-You uhhh don't have to talk about it if yo-you don't-” Morty started but was swiftly cut off by Rick.

“I-It's fine! I-I-I... want to...” Rick waved his hands dismissively, “It's just… hard.” Rick squeezed the can in his grasp harder.

Morty nodded in understanding.

“Okay… So uhhhh a-about ten years ago my wife passed away, leaving me to take care of my daughter, Beth, alone.” Once Rick started going, he seemed to gain confidence. “I-I was stupid and ignorant then. And I was having money issues. After I had finished developing the portal gun, I-I went to some random alien planet where I heard I could make a lot of money… I betrayed the wrong people and made some deadly enemies.”

Rick took in a deep shuddering breath before continuing, “Th-They took Beth… and even after I gave them all the money and stuff back… They killed her. It wasn't even quick…” Rick's voice softened, “They said later that they enjoyed torturing her.”

Rick began chugging his beer, only pausing to continue.

“And then Shetyrp Flurytu wanted me dead… Just to prove a point. Fuck, still wants me dead. And I know I don't look like it but i'm always on edge. I'm waiting for the day they finally outdo me and cut my throat while I sleep.”

Rick began messing with the hem of his pants, his eyes not moving from the tv.

…

“I-I don't know w-what to say.” Morty admitted with honesty. He couldn't say ‘well, i'm sorry to hear that.’ He hated when people did that to him. It did nothing. Fixed nothing.

Morty wished he could tell Rick he knew what it felt like. Hed seen so many people, so many of his friends killed. And he knew what it was like to like in a constant state of fear… but he had no clue what it was like to have a loved one go through that.

Morty couldn't imagine Rick being so broken on the inside…

And the kid soap and other weird things he'd found stashed away around the house. That explained it all. And Ricks defensiveness about those things.

“Rick.” Morts said gaining confidence, “I have no clue how much pain you've been in… Fuck that, the pain you are in… “ Mort scooted closer to Rick on the couch so he could look him straight in the face, “But all that shit you've been in, it's not your fault! Yo-You did your best and you did all you could. Yo-You have to stop beating y-y-yourself up.”

Rick chuckled nervously, shaking his head, “Morty that was a good speech and all but... I don't know what-”

“Don't try to cover this up with fake humor Rick.” Morty growled, grabbing Ricks limp hand, the one fiddling nervously with his pants. “I-I'm serious. Your treated like shit at work. You're secretly full of anxiety at home. You're always so-so worried about me, but you ne-never seem to think a-about yourself, do you?!… So t-tell me this Rick, is it fair for you to keep living like this? To keep punishing yourself? I'm not asking you to forget her Rick… Ju-Just to get control of y-your life again.”

Rick leaned back from Morty, the now empty beer can slipping from his grasp with a cushioned clank but both of them were too focused on the other to even notice it.

Morty stared back defiantly, panting slightly from the rant.

Fuck… Where had that come from?

“I… U-Uhhh… I-I-I dont… I-I… Uhhhh.” Rick stuttered, looking perplexed. And for once looking like he didn't know the answer to something.

The look on Rick's face was indescribable.

Not knowing what else to do Morty suddenly drew Rick into a tight hug. The man's chest was rapidly rising up and down so to help sooth him Morty began lightly rubbing little circles on Rick's back.

Morty for once liked that he wasn't the one who need comforting. It felt good to help and to be needed.

Finally after a few minutes Rick was able to calm down enough to speak.

“I trust you Morty.” Rick suddenly spoke up.

Trust…   
Morty frowned. Why did that sound so familiar...

Oh, fuck.

Morty jumped up. The deal with Firbe! H-How could he have forgotten! How had he gotten used to this! To hanging out with Rick, not having to worry about his next meal, and not having to drink himself into oblivion.

Morty began breathing in shallow breaths, his heart pounding frantically against his ribcage. Putting a hand over his chest, Morty's face turned a deadly shade of white.

And Rick noticed.

“A-Are you okay-” Rick reached out a hand towards Morty but he took a step backward, practically tripping over his own legs.

“I-I-I got to go… to the ba-bathroom!” Morty managed to shout despite his shaky breaths. He felt like he was suffocating. Like his body was beginning to shut down.

He had to leave… Now!

Before Morty was able to watch the confusion and worry dance across Ricks face (and he knew it would), he darted off the couch and ran up the stairs, trying to keep his heart from blowing up in his chest before he was out of sight.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Morty barely even noticed when he flung open the door and stepped inside the bathroom. Shutting the door rather loudly, Morty collapsed against the back of the door and slid down to the floor, his entire body quaking.

Ignoring the tingling in his back, Morty buried his head in his hands and quietly began to sob.

It was happening.

Morty had gained Ricks trust… Somehow with his weird personality laced like spikes he had gotten Rick to talk to him. To truly talk to him.

He… He hadn't thought it would take such a short amount of time for Rick to trust him!

Firbe and them had killed his daughter… And Rick was only worried that they were going to go after him next! Morty… Morty hadn't known about that. But he had a job to do… And his own life was on the line if he didn't return with Rick's head.

He was going to have to kill Rick…

…

But Morty wasn't stupid.

He already knew he wasn't going to be able to do it.


	13. Attachment Is The Root Of All Suffering

“Morty watch out!”

Ricks shout caused Morty to instantly freeze, his eyes immediately turning to scan the giant darkened cave they were in. His third eye glanced around looking for any movement among the glowing shrubbery and fauna that lit up their path. But he didn't see anything-

“F-F-Fuck!” Morty cursed out in surprise as he was violently pulled backwards by his shirt.

“M-Morty pay attention! You almost just walked off the edge of that fucking cliff.” Rick cursed loudly, adjusting the glasses on his face.

Morty let out a huff of annoyance. “I-I was fine Rick. I had t-two more steps bef-before the p-path ended.”

Morty rolled his eyes before marching forward again, stopping this time when the tips of his feet hit the edge of the drop off. Rick tensed up behind him but Morty ignored him, choosing to look around at his surroundings instead.

Looking down Morty could only see darkness. Huge glowing vines to his left trailed down into the chasm, their light slowing disappearing as they descended towards the bottom of the chasm.

“Morty,” Rick growled under his breath before grabbing Morty's shirt sleeve and yanking him back again. “Y-You're really starting to get on my nerves.”

Morty eyes narrowed. He hadn't gotten any sleep last night and though his leg and face from the fight had healed up fast, he had ran out of cigarettes a couple days ago. And he hadn't slept for the past two days so...

He wasn't exactly having a good day either.

“Okay fi-fine Rick.” Morty replied, running over to the man's side. Rick was already strolling down the darkened path, not even waiting for Morty to catch up.

“Where are those aliens?” Rick muttered under his breath, looking around practically blindly in the darkness. Their only source of light coming from a huge mushroom that was growing out of the cave's wall. “I'm pretty sure I went this way last time...”

Morty looked up at Rick curiously, “W-Why don't yo-you go just go buy b-batteries for your portal gun at li-like, I-I-I don't know… o-on the black mar-market?” He almost added, like a normal person.

“Well,” Rick started, stepped over another dog sized glowing plant, “it's because those fuckers still cost a lot and this is way easier anyway. All I got to do is chase off this animal for these aliens down here that terrorizes them a couple times a year and I get free portal batteries.”

Morty wondered if Rick had even ever been to a black market. It sounded like he hadn't.

“W-Why don't you just kill t-this… this animal?” Morty asked, third eye flicking in confusion. “Y-You know? In-Instead of chasing it a-a-away?”

It was too dark to clearly see Rick's face but Morty was pretty sure the older man wasn't liking Morty's constant string of questions.

“Well if I solved their problem I wouldn't get any more batteries would I?” Was all Rick said.

They both stopped as they neared another much larger drop off in the cave, but this time it was blocking their entire path.

And there was no way to go around it.

Morty stepped forward eyes squinting in the low light to see if maybe there were stairs leading down or something. It would be much easier to just use the portal gun to get across but the thing was almost dead-

“Look up Morty.” Rick sighed, before jumping.

Right off the fucking edge.

Morty darted forward, eyes saucer wide, arms instinctively shooting forward to grab Rick before he went over the edge but…

Rick didn't fall.

The man was standing on a floating rock a feet away from Morty, a smirk on his face.

Morty hadn't seen those before. The low lighting of the cave must have messed with his vision. But now that Morty knew they were there, he seen that there was a path of glowing rocks that lead right over the chasm.

And Rick was standing on the closest one.

That fucker.

“Haha, v-very funny Ri-Rick.” Morty huffed before he jumped too. He landed next to Rick, who was laughing quite loudly.

As Rick jumped onto the next floating rock, Morty's arms shot out for balance as the rock underneath his feet suddenly jerked.

“Oh my god! The look on your face was priceless!” Rick laughed, tears gathering at his eyes, “You do care.” He teased Morty.

Mortys grin was tight lipped.

“Well y-yeah. Without a-a Rick, a Morty’s us-useless too.”

Mortys heart was still racing from the stupid stunt. And at the moment he felt like murdering Rick for his ‘prank'. Morty knew that if the roles were reversed and he had pulled something like that, Rick would be just as pissed as he was.

Ricks chuckling was finally dying down and wanting a change of subject Morty asked, “Rick… h-how do these rocks even float any-anyways?”

Morty looked down as he hopped onto another floating stone. It wobbled slightly before finally steadying.

“H-How the fuck am I supposed to know that Morty? Probably by some made up sci-fi fiction shit.” Rick shrugged his shoulders, jumping down from the last floating rock and landing back on the cave path.

Morty jumped onto the last floating stone. It waved wildly for a couple seconds before it stilled. Morty eyed the jump to the cave path wearily. It was about two feet away, farther than any of the other jumps… But he could make it.

He's had to jump from a rooftop before… But he did have a running start than.

Morty crouched slightly, muscles preparing for the jump when Rick suddenly reached out his arm towards him.

“Morty grab my hand.”

Morty stared at Rick's outstretched hand, eyes narrowing. “W-Why?... Yo-You think I c-can’t do this?”

“Come on Morty, your legs are like half as long as mine… And it's just in case. Ever heard of better safe than sorry?”

Ignoring the outstretched hand that was an arm's length reach away, Morty jumped.

His feet hit the cave path with a hard csshh.

“You little brat,” Rick said tensely, his hand retreating to his side. He glanced over at Morty who was smirking at him.

“Arrogance will get you killed Morty.” Rick tutted with a knowing frown. Morty instantly understood the warning and what Rick was getting at.

“If that was true I’d be dead already.” Morty laughed. “And remember the same goes for you too Rick.”

...

…

Morty had no clue how long it took before they stumbled across the aliens Rick was talking about, but it had to have been at least half an hour.

And on no sleep that was a killer.

As soon as the aliens caught sight of them, the huge bug looking creatures antennas stuck up, backing away quietly as they began whispering to each other in a foreign language of clicks and chirps.

“H-Hey what's up? I Need to speak to your guy’s king.” Rick said casually, resting his arm on Morty head. One of the aliens closest to Rick nodded hurriedly before running off.

Morty shook off Rick's arm and looked around. He thought it was fascinating how the aliens had decided to carve their houses out of the huge scaling walls of the caves.

“We need help.” An alien suddenly announced, grabbing Morty's attention. Morty turned his head towards the alien who was speaking to Rick, not missing the crown of glowing flowers on top his head. Morty had to stifle a laugh.

“You help, you get this.” The alien said, getting right to the chase. The king alien held up three portal batteries in his hands?... Claws?

How the hell did those even get down here?

And why didn't Rick just kill the alien and take the batteries. That seemed like such a Rick thing to do instead.

… Morty guessed it made sense though?

“Follow.”

The alien suddenly started walking, Its long legs rubbing together as it began leading them deeper in the cave, a few other aliens accompanying them silently. The aliens kept talking to each other in their own language but Morty was so used to it that he didn't notice. Being on an alien planet for years kind of did that.

Rick suddenly threw his arm in front of Morty, stopping him.

“Morty I need you to stay here.” Rick commanded, eyes suddenly dark.

Morty opened his mouth in disbelief, “Wha-What? R-Rick, I-I’m not leaving you.” The aliens gave them a confused look but watched on in silence.

“Morty don't argue.” Rick hissed, grabbing Morty's shoulders. “I n-need you to stay here. Go look around, explore, go be a kid for once. And if any of them give you any shit, you have my permission to kick their ass.” Rick waved his hands around the cavern.

Rick looked at Morty a soft smile on his face, like he had just made an offer that Morty couldn't possibly refuse.

“What t-the fuck do you mean b-b-by that?!”

Morty snarled, “I-I’m not going to li-listen to you just because y-you think you're p-protecting me! You c-can't keep abandoning me at-at the f-first sight of danger on ou-our missions Rick!”

“Morty really this is really not-”

Honestly it was stupid, but it was the last straw. And Morty's built up anger was boiling over and he just couldn't stop himself.

“S-S-Stop trying to protect me R-Rick! I c-can do that perfectly fine myself! I can defend m-myself, I-I am n-not weak!” Morty screamed, fists clenched tightly at his side.

“I never said you were!” Rick threw up his hands, his face twisted into anger and annoyance.

“Well yo-you keep acting l-like it! I-I-I can take care of my-myself! Y-You know i-it was kind of cute and sw-sweet at f-first how you were so worried and that you even took care of me... but now it-its just getting rid-ridiculous!” Morty shouted right into Rick's face.

“Wait… cute?” Rick muttered before the weight of Morty's words hit him and he raised his voice again, “Yeah well i'm not the one who fucking cut up their hand and then let it get infected! Why the fuck didn't you tell me Morty!? I-I could have helped!”

“You're still mad about that?! Why does that matter?! It was a stupid mistake-”

“It is my business! You're my fucking Morty!”

“Well, maybe I-I never wanted to be your fucking M-Morty!”

Mortys third eye widened. He did not just say that. He didn't mean it. He had just wanted to hurt Rick. But not like this... But Morty already knew he had taken it too far.

Ricks own face twisted in shock, before morphing into hurt. Ricks arms fell limply to his sides, his mouth opening as if to retort but after a few seconds of silence, Ricks mouth settled back into a tight strained grin.

Why did he have to mess up everything good in his life?

“You know what Morty? Fine.” Rick said his voice eerily dropping. “You want to come? Well than come on.”

Morty didn't answer, too mad at himself to even utter a single word.

But nonetheless, he got what he wanted so he followed Rick and the aliens silently. They weaved in and out of different complex cave systems, and Rick talked to the aliens… but not him.

The king alien finally spoke up again when they come to a giant metal door that was bolted and locked and… covered in long deadly scratches. Obviously whatever had made those was strong.

Morty glanced over at Rick from the corner of his eye but Rick's face was blank, emotionless.

But Morty could tell that Rick was watching him closely too.

Morty tensed, preparing himself mentally as they opened the door. Oh god he wished he had his gun, or at least some kind of weapon but sadly... he only had his portal gun.

Pretty much useless though since he couldn't use it in front of Rick.

Morty tensed, face hardening as the doors began to swing open.

He could improvise though, he didn't need a weapon (though that would make life easier). He's done that practically his entire life before moving to an alien planet… And he turned out pretty okay. Not dead so… a win right?

Morty needed to show Rick that he was not a pushover. That he was capable of defending himself… So the man could relax and not mother him so much.

This was the only way to fix this.

As they stepped into the cavern lit by more glowing plants, Morty was met with a surprising sight.

A huge creature caged in some type of glowing orange force field, was tucked away in the far corner of the cave. But despite it being captured the thing still thrashed against the cages sides, desperate to escape, large bolts of electricity electrocuting it at the contact.

The monster was covered in hair from its head to its toes and had four arms and eight legs like a spider. On its thorax were spikes and one eye sat over its large hooked mouth, which was open and just screaming bloody murder.

Morty cringed at the noise. It definitely sounded like the monster was in a lot of pain.

The alien king turned to them, “This is the one who terrorizes us.”

“Wait. Why do you guys have it chained up?” Rick asked perplexed, “What do you need me for? You can just kill it and be done with it.”

“We can not kill. Watch.” The alien picked up a huge looking complex gun (which looked out of place among the simple aliens) and shot the creature.

The thing screamed, squirming and screaming even more. And Morty could now see large scratches and gun wounds decorating the creatures upper torso… But surprisingly the wounds were leaking no blood.

“See? No kill.” The alien looked irritated, looked angry. It was clear he wanted the thing dead.

“Hmm,” Rick put a hand on his chin. “I may have to go back and get a different better gun than the one I have.”

One of the other aliens stepped forward, an expression of silent pure rage on its bug like face and without a word chopped off one of its legs.

The creatures scream got louder.

Morty looked up at Rick with a raised eyebrow. Was this it? Is this what Rick didn’t want him to see?

The alien chopped off another limb, and Morty watched unfazed as a dark brown substance (probably blood) immediately began seeping from the wound, painting the ground beneath the creature.

Morty knows he should act like this shocks him. But he's too angry, too much liking the smirk that is quickly falling off Rick's face as the man watches Morty's unfazed expression out of the corner of his eye.

“Wh-What? You think I can't handle a little blood?” Morty teased, rolling his third eye.

“Why aren't you-” Rick started before he was suddenly interrupted by a ZZZZZZZZSSAAP

Morty looked over to see that the cage was broken… and empty.

The creature had broken free. And it was fucking fast.

The aliens started screaming. A brave few even tried to detain the thing but the large creature was having none of it and swiftly weaved around them, long legs piercing their bodies easily as it stepped on them without remorse.

Morty was frozen. Stuck between helping or just running away.

Well he was going to die anyway so… Fuck it.

Morty lunged forward, dodging around the aliens that were zooming out of the cave, running like their lives depended on it. (It probably did)

Morty flinched back when the creature ran past him, looking like it was heading straight for Rick.

Morty dodged out of the way just in time.

The aliens leg smashed into the ground, where seconds ago Morty had been standing. Splinters of rock and dirt struck Morty from the contact but Morty was already foreword.

He needed to think.

Morty tensed when he seen Rick grabbing the gun from his pocket, swiftly aiming it at the creature that was advancing towards him.

“Wait R-Rick, do-dont shoot!”

Morty didn't mean for it to sound like he didn't want to hurt the creature, but rather much more about the fact that if Rick missed, his shot would hit a column which was supporting the cave ceiling that the spider creature was right in front of. If he accidentally hit it, the entire ceiling would collapse on them.

But before Rick could even pull the trigger, one of the creature's legs knocked the gun out of Rick's hands. It spiraled into the air and landed on a spike on the back of the creature, who was too distracted by getting attacked by Rick even notice where it landed.

“Morty!” Rick yelled, and Morty's attention snapped back to the fact that the creature had suddenly lost interest in Rick and now had its sights locked on Morty. It must have realized that he was the smallest and therefore theoretically easiest target.

Morty jumped back, desperate to not die.

His back hit the cave wall but as soon as the creature was close enough that Morty could see the pupil in its eye, he lunged under it, managing to dodge one of its body piercing legs.

But than another one of its legs stabbed the ground, grazing Morty's side and piercing his shirt… trapping him.

Morty cursed his luck.

The creature than grabbed Morty's shirt and pulled him swiftly off the ground. Letting out a cry of surprise, Morty thrashed and tried to punch the creature but its skin was way too thick and it accomplished nothing except to piss the monster off.

But instead of the creature chomping down on him with its razor teeth like Morty expected, the thing crawled out of the cave, a tight hold still on him. It began scaling the wall, legs working perfectly to find handholds to boost itself up and away from the aliens and Rick.

“Rick!” Morty yelled, scared.

Scared that he was about to experience something worse than death.

Once the creature reached a small crevice in the wall, it crawled into it and dropped Morty.

Morty instantly began backing away, legs and arms shaking. Every time the creature took a step foreword, Morty took a step back.

He was backing towards the edge and he knew that he would eventually end up falling off if the spider creature kept this up. But Morty tried to calm himself down by saying that it had to be better than whatever the creature had brought him here for.

He didn't want to get raped by some fucking spider kinky alien thing!

Morty stopped. One more step and he’d be over the edge.

Please do not try and hurt me.

Mortys head snapped around the room, his voice shook (more than normal) as he spoke, “Wh-Who the fuck said th-that?”

I did.

Morty almost took another step backwards when the creature looked straight at him, thought its mouth didn't move at all.

The thing was speaking telepathically to him!

You were sent here to kill me because I eat their kind… But yet you didn't want to hurt me. Tell me this, but would you believe me if I said that I had no other choice?

The creature thought he didn't want to hurt them?...

Oh… Morty recalled screaming, ‘don't shoot!’ It must have thought he was trying to be peaceful and open to trying to find another solution than killing.

How stupid.

The creature didn't even wait for Morty to answer before it began to speak again.

I am stuck in this cave. No way in or out. Me and my babies can't leave… But I seen you enter, through that… glowing green light. So you must have a way for me to get out of here.

The creature locked eyes with Morty.

I have tried speaking to them but they are not willing to share and I have hungry mouths to feed.

By ‘them' Morty figured the creature meant the aliens that lived here. Morty's hand went to his pocket and he pulled out his portal gun.

He could have instantly portaled the poor creature out of here. Someplace safe… But…

Morty's finger slipped off of the power button.

That wouldn't prove anything to Rick would it? Wouldnt prove to Rick that he could defend himself.

“Okay.” Morty lied, nodding. “I'll do it. I’ll help you.”

He just needed to distract the creature long enough to be able to grab Rick's gun that was caught on one of the creature's spikes.

Thankyou.

Morty smiled, shifting from foot to foot under the creature's gaze, “Okay, so the only problem is that… is that the portal gun -the gun that created the green swirly thing you seen- doesn't ha-have any power…” Morty forced his expression to to look sad.

He would need to be quick or he'd lose his chance.

“But,” Morty brightened, “The a-aliens down there ha-have a power source fo-for it. T-That's the reason we’re do-down here” Morty pointed down where they had come from, where the alien civilization was.

What does it look like?

Morty pointed to his own portal gun and pointed to the dome on top, which held a soft glowing green light inside.

“Like th-this, b-but brighter.”

The creature suddenly perked up and in a split second began going over the edge and down the wall so it could fetch what Morty needed.

Running foreword a second too late, Morty jumped off the cliff and right onto the creature's back.

Morty snatched the gun before it could even realize what he was doing. As soon as the weapon was in his grasp, Morty fired. His years of experience with guns making the shot hit the creature perfectly in the eye.

It exploded with a pop.

The creature screamed, three of its legs reaching up to cover its single eye as the rest of its limbs gave out and... they started falling.

Betrayer! Why would you do this! You had a chance to not shed blood!

Morty kept firing after that, aiming for the creatures thorax, having no clue how to kill this creature. But when blood squirted out of the wounds he knew he was at least injuring the thing.

Morty somehow managed to stay upright so he was able to aim fairly well-

As  
they   
fell.

The creature hit the ground first, a loud unsettling crunch echoing through the cave.

Morty was much more luckier, he landed on the dead monster. Its thick skinned body gave in under his weight, skin breaking like an egg shell and covering Morty in its yellow blood.

Morty laid there for a few seconds in shock before he finally seemed to feel the stickiness of blood staining his clothes and he jumped away. Ricks gun was still in his hands and Morty twirled it around, pointing it directly at the squashed (and hopefully dead) creature as he backed up.

Making sure that it wasn't playing dead Morty shot it again in the eye. But the creature didn't even flinch, didn't move at all in fact.

Morty finally dropped the gun, panting breathlessly. His heart was racing and the unplanned almost falling to his death certainly hadn't been expected.

But…

He did it.

Morty smiled.

A minute later aliens were surrounding him, cheering for him. How the hell they got there so fast, Morty didn't know but the creatures loud scream had to have alerted them to where he was. The aliens were quick to grab and drag away the creature's dead body (to god knows where) and Morty forced away the pang of sadness he felt for the dead monster.

It was only trying to be a good mother and feed its children…

“Good!” The king alien suddenly appeared, startling Morty out of his stupor. The alien shoved the portal batteries into Morty's hand. “Thankyou! Thankyou! We are free now!”

Morty nodded, his frown turning into a grin again…

He killed the thing.   
He had proven to Rick that he could take care of himself!

“U-Uhhh do y-you know wh-where Rick is?” Morty asked the alien king, not able to keep the excitement out of his voice.

The alien king didn't even have the chance to lift up his arm to point before Rick was at Morty's side, breathing hard like he had just ran all the way back.

“R-Rick!” Morty held up the portal batteries in his hands, smiling proudly, still a little out of breath himself. “I g-got you your-”

“You could have died!”

Mortys smile dropped.

“You have no clue how stupid that was! Oh my fucking god, don't tell me that you did this on purpose! Was this your stupid plan to impress me!?... Because it didn't work!”

Morty unconsciously dropped the batteries he had just seconds ago been clutching to his chest like a kid in third grade ready to give his mother a beautiful handmade gift. Neither of them even noticed when they rolled away, forgotten.

Rick was supposed to be proud of him…

Proud that he had proved himself and got the portal gun batteries. Which was the entire reason they were here in the first place.

“W-What? R-Rick, I got the-”

“You could have gotten hurt Morty. Badly hurt.” Rick's voice was low and he still sounded angry, “This isn't some fun video game where you can just gamble your life away. Fucking jesus Morty.”

“Rick I… I-I… I… “ Morty fell silent, his chest still heaving from killing the telepathic creature and nearly falling to his death.

He didn't know what to say.

He didn't know how to make this better.

Without a word Rick opened up a portal, stepping through it, not even waiting for Morty.

Morty began hyperventilating as he went through the portal. As soon as they entered the living room Morty sat down, trying to combat the wave of dizziness he was feeling.

He suddenly felt so tired.

Rick stopped on the stairs, face turned towards Morty looking worried for an instant before he violently shook his head. His face twisted into an angry expression again and he continued up the stairs, disappearing from sight.

Morty cringed when Rick reached his room and slammed the door, the sound echoing through the quiet house.

Morty tensed up, all three eyes wide.

He fucked up.

He had fucked up again.

He can't do anything right. He's a waste of space. Rick is wrong about him. He's horrible. Hes garbage. Rick hates him now. He was stupid. Stupid to think he actually had a chance at happiness!

And than the realization that he was going to die struck him, simply because he couldn't kill Rick.

Morty broke down in tears, his hands tearing at his hair in a vain attempt to get the pain to stop.

He should have known.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized I made Four Eye Rick kind of dumb compared to other Ricks (sucks at building space ships/inventions take forever to make/stingy with using portal gun and doesn't know all of its uses), despite him wearing glasses. I'm actually proud that I unknowingly broke a cliche! :)


	14. The Warmth Of A Loving Touch...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey sorry but this isnt a chapter! 
> 
> I was going through my old Rick and Morty oneshots and I came across this particular one and realized it was my first work featuring Three Eye Mortys backstory! 
> 
> It will give you more insight on what happened to Mortys family! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy :)
> 
> P.S. I have no idea why I wrote it so poetically or where to put this in the story...

 

Three Eye Morty has seen everything.

Morty watched his parents divorce. Noticed that their exchange of words were no longer said with hints of romance or love but rather with the desire to tear the other apart from the inside out. Listened quietly as the screams coming from the walls at night suddenly turned sharp, rolling off his parents tongues like they meant to drown the other with their very existence. Watched helpless as the piercing words cut and flawed the other to the point where the only hint of happiness they found was far away from the other.

Morty watched Summer run away. Seen the weight of the world crush the breath from his sisters foolish lungs and successfully turn her into a shattered teen that would never be understood. He watched as the world slowly chipped away all her accomplishments and dreams, leaving her with nothing to call her own. He watched as she slowly left, spending more and more time away from home until Morty was convinced that it had never really been a home to her.

Morty watched Rick die. He realized there was hurt lingering deep in the Rick's eyes, covered by carefree demeanor as the man fought to keep his facade up for his entire life. Morty watched as the feeling of dread he got around his grandfather knit itself in Rick's throat until the man could no longer function without the comforting blank canvas of alcohol. He watched as his grandfather drained every bottle, all while the bottle only stopped draining Rick when he was dead.

Morty watched as every Morty's universe flickered through his third eye. The feeling of burning rage and complete utter despair never quite comparing to the small flickering rays of happiness that never stayed long in any Morty's life. He watched as every Morty suffered and withered silently in pain as no one sent a concerned glance their way. Watched as every single one hoped to be accepted and loved but never was. He watched the countless rejections and harsh bullying words that slowly tore them apart and ate at their insides like acid… until they were nothing _but a Morty._

 

Third eye Morty has seen everything…

 

            ...but the warmth of a loving touch.


	15. Being Drunk Only Worsens Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically Morty has a psychotic breakdown in the form of a panic attack.

  _He can't breath._

_Mortys vividly aware that someone is choking him._

_Claws are digging into his throat, depriving him of the precious oxygen he needs._

_Morty knows that to his right, his gun lays on the floor but black spots are starting to dance across his vision and he's unsure if he can even reach it…_

_Morty can't reach it. His visions going dark. Hes barely aware of his body shaking before he suddenly goes limp. He’s suddenly feels so… so very exhausted._

_Morty cries out for Rick but his throat is raw, hoarse from his muffled screaming. But Rick's not coming, not ever. He's on his own and the thought terrifies him beyond comprehension._

_He's going to die._

He's going to die.

Morty leapt out of bed, moving so frantically that it causes him to trip over the blankets that had fallen to the floor because of his thrashing. He hits the wall next to his bed with a loud THUNK but Morty's much more worried about how he feels like he can't breathe. Small drops of blood are now dripping down his face and Morty's entire body feels numb and tingly.

And not in the good way.

Morts hands fly to his throat, trying desperately to pry and claw off invisible fingers. But the pressure refuses to let up and Morty begins to panic even more.

He’s panicking.

The thought strikes Morty out of nowhere. It's familiar and his feverish mind latches onto it.

Morty knows he needs to calm down. Needs to be cool and collected so he can analyze his situation or else he might actually die.

He needs to calm down.

Morty stands up, using the wall he bashed his head against, as support. His hand automatically goes to his nightstand where he always keeps his phone.

All of Morty's eyes go wide when his fingers don't come into contact with it. If his phones not there then he must not be… must not be in his apartment. Morty can't shake the feeling that he's done this scenario before. But he pushes the feeling away so he can concentrate on more important matters.

For the first time, Morty actually looks around the room he's in. It's plain looking. There's a closet, an empty messed up bed, and a nightstand… but what strikes him as weird is that it's normal looking.

There's nothing alien looking on the counters or floor, no beer bottles with labels writing in an alien language or anything of the sort… Everything's human.

It takes Morty a moment to realize where he was.  
That he was no longer on that fucked up alien planet.

He's with Rick… Four eyed Rick.

Breathing deeply, Morty leans against his bed. He feels exhausted, despite the 12+ hours of sleep he's gotten. The invisible pressure against his throat is gone but Morty can't help how he rubs his throat just to check.

After finding nothing wrapped around his throat, Morty sinks to the floor.

He hasn't had a nightmare that vivid in a long time.

Listening to the silence of the quiet house, Morty rolls over on the floor so he can look at the door to his room.

He had honestly expected Rick to rush in after Morty practically smashed his head against the wall in blind terror. He knows that Rick heard it. It was loud as fuck.

But… Rick hadn't even come to check up on him.

Morty guessed he should have kind of expected that though. They weren't exactly on talking terms right now.

Morty lies lifelessly on the floor. Sweat is dripping down his face in beads, mixing with the blood from the scrape on his forehead but Morty doesn't make an effort to wipe it away.

Rick and him haven't talked for a week now.

Hell, they haven't even seen each other.

Morty has no clue what Rick has been up to (probably working on inventions). But Morty has pretty much stayed in his room the entire time, alternating between sleeping and staring blankly at the ceiling. He has occasionally left to use the bathroom or eat maybe but, he's lost his appetite.

But the plus side was, no more insomniac nights!  
Downside was… he was depressed. And the oversleeping only made him more tired.

Mortys not mad at Rick though...

This entire thing was his fault.

He finally finds a Rick that's not such an ass and he just has to go and fuck everything up. Morty guessed that he should have seen it coming in all honestly. Nothing good ever stays for long in his life.

Rolling over on the floor, Morty reaches for the portal gun hidden in his closet.

He could use a drink or two. And what better transportation to use than his portal gun!

It takes a couple of seconds before Morty's finally able to grab it from where he stashed it behind a shoe box. He draws it out, an excited grin making its way onto his sunken face.

Morty stills.

There's a note on his portal gun.

Picking it up carefully, ignoring how his hands won't stop shaking. Morty faces goes sheet white when he reads it. Its short, but the warning is clear.

‘We've been watching you. The deadline for Rick's death is two days.’

Morty glares long and hard at the note before crumpling it up angrily in his fist. He throws it against the wall but it just harmlessly bounces off.

Morty feels like putting his fist through the wall instead.

Suddenly the urge to drink is back again, stronger this time. His anger and sadness fueling his addiction and clouding his judgement.

He wants to drink so badly.

The want is rushing through his body and suddenly it's all Morty can think about. He wants to feel numb and at least the slightest bit of happy before he dies so… Morty allows himself this one time to go for it.

Rick can suck it.

The man will probably be devastated that Morty isn't the innocent angel he once thought all Morty's were.

Well he's killed people. A lot of people.  
And he doesn't regret it.

Not.  
One.  
Bit.

Morty grabs his portal gun with numb trembling fingers, the mantra, ‘I can't do this anymore.’ Repeating over and over in his head. And he's right… He can't cope anymore.

A flash of green and suddenly Morty’s in a totally different place.

He finds himself standing outside of some dingy bar on a alien planet. White pristine snow is starting to fall, and it's so cold that Morty wraps his arms around himself.

But inside he can music and laughter, and the atmosphere is too inviting for Morty to possibly resist.

Stepping inside, the smell of smoke and alcohol hits him full blast. Morty finds himself loving the familiarity of it, loving the smell and how it curled around him like some old friend.

This was his favorite bar, by far.

No aliens gave Morty notice when he sat down at the counter, silently slipping into the stool next to a pink goop monster.

Morty loved this place because they rarely ever ID anyone. So he's never had to carry around one of his multiple fake ID’s. With the employees being entirely aliens and with him human, they never dared to ask his age…

Well the reason may actually be more because they knew who he was.

And plus the bartenders were usually cute. He's slept with a couple even.

Slouching, Morty made himself comfortable on the bar stool (As he would most likely be here the entire night). He propped up his weary head with his hand and quickly waved the bartender over.

He was only going to have a few drinks…

“Hey three eye.” The bartender said sweetly when he spotted Morty.

“Hi.” Morty gave the bartender a small fake smile. He was not in the mood to talk today, but that was no reason to get on someone's bad side.

Morty didn't even have to look at the menu to know what kind of drink he wanted. Plus he practically had the thing memorized by heart.

“Give me the biggest and most concentrated alcoholic drink you have. And none of that webul shit you guys slip into your drinks to make them sweet.” Morty groaned, rolling his third eye dramatically.

The first drink he ever had here was horrible. He had spat it out immediately and demanded to know what the hell they put into their drinks that made it taste like he was drinking alchol mixed with a cup of sugar.

“Okay, got it. One Gin Rummy coming right up.” Despite Morty snapping at the man, the alien still sounded chipper, even if it sounded kind of forced.

Morty had some money on him so thank god for that. He threw it on the table, not even counting it.

It wasn't like they were going to argue with him anyway.

The bartender finished mixing his Gin Rummy and set down the drink carefully in front of Morty. Not even acknowledging the bartender, Morty instantly picked up the large glass in his hands and put it against his dry lips.

Morty took a long drink, trying his hardest not to spill any his beer. But his hands wouldn't stop shaking and that only made Morty more determined to drink faster.

He finished that one. And ordered another.

Than another.

Than another.

Than another.

Than he lost count.

But soon ‘a couple of drinks’ had turned into ‘now i'm drunk out of my mind’.

Morty didn't know how long he had been there. Hours at least. And although he was definitely feeling the alcohol's effect he kept ordering more beers.

He was going to get drunk until he couldn't feel anything.

…

“M-Morty!”

Ricks yell barely pushes through the sluggishness of Morty's drunk brain.

Morty feels like he's floating on a cloud. And the one thing he's sure of, is that he doesn't ever want to come down.

“W-What the fuck!?”

Rick is suddenly in his face and Morty can't help the automatic backing up he does. The illusion of safety created by the alcohol is shattered. Taking a step back, Morty stumbles and nearly falls before he manages to catch himself.

“Wh-Why the hell are you fucking drunk?”

Morty doesn't answer, gaze distant and out of it.

A cold hand touches his forehead.

The older man brushes his fingers against the bloody scrape. It doesn't hurt but Morty can't remember where he got it from.

But Morty unconsciously relaxes. His body untensing under the gentle but simple touch. He slumps against the wall, suddenly too weak and dizzy to stay standing.

It's so peaceful…

Suddenly hands are grabbing around Morty's waist, pushing uncomfortably into his gut. The floor is moving way too fast under him and Morty finds that he can't move much.

Mortys body sways as the person drags him backwards by the waist. He wants to stop but Morty's limbs aren’t reacting to any of his commands.

He can't move.  
He can't think.  
He can't do anything,

Morty feels like a corpse.

Wait!

He wants so badly to protest that he's not dead! He's not dead!

HE'S. NOT. DEAD!

Arms beginning to flail and thrash, Morty begins to freak out. He struggles with all his might against the stranger who's dragging him limply across the floor. Morty is able to dig his heels into the ground, trying his best to ignore a shrill piercing sound that makes it feel like his ears are bleeding.

Finally able to twist around, Morty swiftly punches his attacker in the face with a tightly clenched fist. And although he's drunk and his aim is off, he puts all his weight behind the punch.

He hears the sound of glass breaking and a cry of pain and than he's free.

He's free!

Morty runs.

His balance is way off. The world won't stop shifting underneath Morty's feet but he somehow manages to stumble onto a couch, panting and out of breath. The high piercing sound is still there and Morty is finding it difficult to stand up again.

But before he can get a breath in, Morty's hands are suddenly being pinned painfully above his head. His attacker is sitting on top of his chest, effectively holding Morty down.

“M-Morty, stop thrashing!”

They know his name! How do they know his name!

“Morty! Stop or you're going to hurt yourself or me!”

A hand thats slick with sweat is thrust up against his mouth. Instantly the high screeching noise he's been hearing stops.

The the noise had been him.

“M-Morty. Listen carefully, I need you to respond, okay? Do you know who I fucking am? I really need you to shake your head yes or no.”

The voice of his attacker is calm but Morty couldn't help but quake in fear underneath him.

He's going to die. The stranger is going to cut him open like some morbid Christmas present and watch as he bleeds out helpless-

“Concentrate Morty! Do you know me?”

Morty violently shakes his head, all three of his eyes still closed tightly, as if that would help stop the painful death he's about to experience.

“I-I-I don't know wh-who tha fuck y-you a-are! Ge-Getawayfromme!” Morty manages to spit out, hating it when he hears his voice crack.

“Okay, Morty. Can you listen? I’m Rick, Four eye Rick to be technical. I'm not trying to hurt you-” The person kept talking but Morty zoned out.

Four Eye Rick.

The name struck a cord. It sounded familiar. Hesitantly Morty slowly cracked open an eye.

He was greeted with a familiar image of his grandfather, except he was wearing broken glasses… And he was sitting on top of him.

Oh, fuck.

Now he kind of remembered.

“I-I’m okaey Ri-Rick…” Morty struggles under Rick, feeling claustrophobic and panicky, “I got it now… Could you plwease get offofme? It-Its hard to uhhh breathe.”

“Oh sorry,” Rick sputters before sliding off of Morty's lap.

Morty sits up shakily, hand gripping the armrest of the couch tightly to keep himself from falling off.

He doesn't feel any better. Morty feels like fleeing. Running away until his lungs burn with misuse and his legs fall apart from exhaustion. His brain is screaming at him to but Morty remains frozen under Rick's harsh look.

Rick must hate him.

Curling up on himself, Morty can't meet the man's gaze. He feels trapped, unable to do anything he wants to.

“I-Im swaorry R-Rick. I-Im sofuckingsorry.” Morty mutters quietly.

Morty wonders if he said it enough times, if it would somehow magically change things between them. But they were just words… And words never fixed anything.

Rick slowly turns his gaze away from Morty. The man is staring down at his own hands which are fiddling idely in his lap.

Shit. Mortys heart flip flops. He did something wrong. He must have done something wrong if Rick won't even talk at him. Rick must hate him. Must want him dead. Fuck why can't he do anything right!

Rick reaches out a hand towards him but Morty flinches away violently, scrambling backwards on the couch until he falls off the other end. He hits the floor hard but he doesn't feel the pain. Morty tries to get back up, to stand up but suddenly he feels faint. The room is spinning again, vanishing from underneath his feet and Morty's skin is tingling numbly.

Ricks going to kill him. He must know that Morty was sent here to kill him. He has to know. Has to know that this all too good to be true.

Morty tangles his fingers in his hair, yanking on them hard as he tries to draw himself back into reality. Tears are gathering in his vision and he just wants everything to stop.

Almost instantly Rick is at his side, stopping Morty gently before holding his small hands in his lap. Rick pushes Morty against his chest, arms wrapped tightly around him like he might fade away.

“It's okay Morty. Deep breaths buddy. You're uhhh kind of hyperventilating.”

Morty hadn't even noticed the fast panicked breaths his lungs were taking in. Looking down, Morty noticed that his chest was indeed rapidly rising and falling way too fast to be anywhere close to normal. The room is still spinning and if Morty focused enough he felt horribly nauseous.

“Deep breaths, okay Morty?”

With a shake of his head, Morty pales. He feels like he's having a heart attack. The pain in his chest won't go away and Morty doesn't want to fucking die.

Hes having a heart attack.

The thought strikes him like a knife to the heart. He needs to tell Rick. The painful fluttering between his ribs isn't going away and nothing is helping. Morty tries to tell Rick but his voice comes out breathless and he only has enough breath to stammer a few words before his vision starts to darken.

“Fuck, this isn't working…” Rick mumbles. “Morty I don't know if you heard me but you got to slow your breathing or your going to pass out.”

It was no wonder that everything was going by so fast. His thoughts were too fleeting to catch and hold onto.

Mortys gaze lands on Rick's white lab coat. It's dirty and full of stains that hadn't been there a week ago. Morty wonders if the man actually ever washes it. He's never seen him do it but he must have to. How does he get blood stains out of a white lab coat? He's always just worn his clothes, blood stained or not-

Rick takes Morty's clenched fist and prys it open before placing the palm against his own chest.

“Morty follow my breathing okay? Can you do that? You'll be fine. You're going to be fine Morty, just please listen to me.”

Morty manages to nod shakily, not trusting his voice.

“In... “

Morty breathes in.

“Out…”

Morty breathes out.

“Okay, just take deep breaths in sync with mine. There you go Morty… You'll be feeling better in no time.”

Ricks voice is low, quiet. And calm. Somehow despite this fucked up situation. But nonetheless it helps to soothe Morty's hyperactive mind.

Morty finds his body unconsciously untensing.

It's a few minutes before Morty can even find the air to speak.

“Rick.”

Mortys voice is low, lower than a whisper. The words tumble helplessly from his mouth before he's able to stop them. They almost catch on his breath and are lost in the silence but he forces himself to spit them out.

Their eating him alive.

“I'm ti-tired… So goddamnfuckingtired R-Rick… I-I-I jiust… I-I just don't wantto die.”

Ricks goes silent for a few moments.

Morty wonders if he said something he shouldn't have. His breathing begins to pick up again as Rick stares at him, mouth open slightly.

“Hey, hey calm down,” Rick's face goes back to being concerned in an instant when he notices Morty's breathing picking up again. He places a hand against Morty's neck, checking his pulse.

A sharp rumbling sensation suddenly comes from Morty's stomach, causing him to curl into himself. One hand automatically goes to wrap around his stomach gently while the other flies to his mouth. He feels like he's going to be sick.

He's going to throw up.

“R-Rick… I-I think im… I th-think i'm going to…” He can't finish his sentence though. The feeling is too strong and he knows if he tries to speak anymore he's going to hurl right then and there.

“Don't worry Morty… here yah go.”

A small trash can is suddenly pushed into Morty's arms. He instantly leans over and begins vomiting violently, not a moment too late. Morty clutches the trash can like a lifeline.

The bile in his throat burns as his stomach expels the little bit of food he ate this morning and some of the alcohol he's drank. Rick stays there the entire time, rubbing his hand gently as Morty hangs onto the trash can with trembling fingers.

His retching is the only thing that fills up the silence.

By the time Morty's done, he wipes the drool from his chin halfheartedly. He slumps against the back of the couch, feeling a little better.

“Okay. T-Time for bed Morty.”

Rick is gentle as he helps Morty stand. Legs shaking under the sudden weight, Morty leans heavily against the older man.

Rick looks at him with confusion when Morty protests, slowly shaking his head.

“Uhhh, umm Ri-Rick? I-I-I won’t bee ableto slweep… I'm an i-insomniack.”

Even though his clouded mind, he knows he won't be able to get any sleep. And he won't be able to lay awake silently on his bed drunk for the entire night.

“Oh.”

Ricks sounds surprised.

But he quickly recovers, guiding Morty over to the kitchen.

“Well than Morty you can come help me work on my latest invention… But first you need to get something in your stomach to help you sober up. And also a bath.” Rick chuckled lightly, messing up Morty's hair affectionately, “No offense but you kinda stink.”

Morty nods absentmindedly, starting to count the tiles on the kitchen floor as he passes them.

Rick guides Morty to the small table, helping him sit before he opens the fridge and begins going through it. After he puts some leftovers in the microwave, Rick turns to Morty a thoughtful look on his face, his voice still quiet.

“You know, when most people get drunk, they're cute and all they want to do is to cuddle but you on the other hand had a panic attack for god's sake.”

Morty offers Rick a lopsided smile, a knowing gleam in his three eyes.

“Well I-I-I guessss i'm just n-not like most pwe-pweople than.”


	16. The Test

Morty was only aware of one thing when he opened his eyes.

Everything hurt.

It felt like his skull was splitting open at the seams. Had he been shot? Drugged? There was this vividly blistering ache that resounded through his entire body. And it was painful.

Sitting up very slowly, Morty pressed his hands against the sides of his head, rubbing his skull with delicate fingers. He had a horrible migraine and the morning light streaming in from his window and hitting him directly in the face was only making everything that much worse.

Shaking his head in a stupid attempt to help clear his thoughts Morty recognized the feeling. He must have been out all night drinking again… God how much did he-

“Good morning Morty.”

Jumping, startled by the sudden booming voice coming from the side of his bed, Morty almost choked on his tongue.

At Rick's loud voice sparks of pain were making the nerves in his head go beserk. His vision kept waning and all Morty wanted to do was go back to bed.

“Ri-Rick. Shit… Don't t-t-talk so loud.” Morty stuttered quietly, cradling his head gently in his hands.

“Oh, sorry.” Rick muttered, voice lowering. The older man leaned back into the chair he was sitting on. From a side glance it looked to be one from the kitchen. Rick suddenly grabbed something off the dresser.

“You’ll probably want these.” Rick handed Morty a couple pills and a glass of water.

Morty took it gratefully. Chugging down the entire glass of water before quickly swallowing the pills.

They could not have been Ibuprofen or Advil or something as simple as that because a couple seconds after taking them his hangover was already decreasing. And thank god for that. Morty was too tired to question where he had gotten the magical-like pills.

Morty shoved his blankets off of him and buried his head in his hands. He felt sick, and not physically sick… Had he forgotten something important?

“How are you uhhh feeling Morty?” Rick asked tentatively, taking the empty glass Morty left on his lap and setting it down carefully on the nightstand next to his bed.

Confused by the hesitation in Rick's voice, Morty responded quietly. “H-Honesty li-like shit… Bu-But already feeling b-better thanks to th-those pills… So th-thanks.”

Leaning back against his pillows, Morty closed his eyes and let the pills do their work. He already feels lethargic and relaxed.

Morty is on the cusp of nodding off when Rick suddenly speaks up.

“Yeah, uhhh… Morty we need to talk.”

Morty nods, cracking open an eye. He knew it was coming. He got so drunk last night that he can barely remember anything.

Oh god, he can't believe he got wasted in front of Rick.

“I'm sorry that I-”   
They both start at the same time.

They turn and stare at each other for a few seconds before Morty nervously rubs his hands together. “Ahh, s-sorry Rick. Y-Y-You can uhhh go f-first.” Morty insists, biting his lip.

“Okay.”

Rick takes a deep breath.

“I'm sorry Morty.” Rick sighs loudly, messing with a stray string that's hanging off his lab coat. “I'm sorry that i've been treating you like you were some defenseless little kid. I realize now that I crossed I line. And I'm sorry that I got so mad… I have just been really stressed out lately but that's still not a good excuse.” His words jumble together a little bit because of how fast Rick is speaking but the meaning is clear.

Ricks sorry.

Mortys kind of shocked by the truthful, yet horribly conveyed apology (better than no apology) but he's quick to recover.

“Don't worry about it.” Morty tries to brush it off, nuzzling back into the blankets on his bed. Their soft, warm and comfy and this situation is too stressful and awkward.

“Stop. Don’t pull that ‘don't worry’ shit.” Rick's voice raises slightly before it lowers back to normal. “I finally find a Morty that I actually get along with and I go and have the nerve to act li-like a total dick.”

“You w-weren't being a dick Rick, I-I was.” Morty insists.

With a long drawn sigh Morty finally pats the spot on the bed beside him, motioning for Rick to come sit beside him. He has the feeling like this is going to be a long conversation.

“I-I just worry you know.” Rick says gently as he sits down next to Morty. The bed squeaks slightly under the sudden weight and Morty habitually straightens the blanket.

“I… I… Yeah I-I know.” Morty nods. There's this tenseness between them and Morty just can't seem to get what he wants to say out right.

But at least they're talking, at least their trying.

Morty was beginning to wonder if Rick would just give up on him. Would take him back to where abandoned Morty's go and sell him to another Rick.

But that what about Firbe and Shetyrp Flurytu? No doubt they would find and kill him because he hadn't killed Rick. There was no escape from her.

He was so screwed either way.

Morty glances over at Rick, who's staring out the window as if lost deep in thought. Morty can only wonder what he's thinking about.

“R-Rick, is there s-something on your mi-mind that y-y-you want to ask?” Morty peers curiously at Rick. There's this look of confliction on his face that makes Morty heart clench uncomfortably in empathy.

Rick nods slowly before turning to face him.

“Morty,” Rick asks softly, laying a gentle hand on Morty's shoulder, “What… What do you remember about last night?”

Morty shrugs.

“I c-can only re-remember bits a-and pieces. But I-I-I re-remember being dragged… and th-then thinking th-that I was… dying?” Morty laughs lightly, “H-How silly is th-that?”

“Yeah, funny.” Rick agrees humorlessly.

Morty really can't remember much but he knows very well how that's just a side effect of drinking. He knows from experience that it takes more than a 6 pack to get him drunk… And he got wasted so he must have had way more than that.

Now that he's thinking about it… Why did Rick ask him what he remembered last night?

“Uhhh why do y-you ask? D-Did I do something em-embarrassing or something…?” Morty trails off, watching the other's face intently.

Rick points to the blue framed glasses on his face with a small shake of his head. “You did kind of brake these... But thank god I had an extra pair in my garage so it was no big deal.”

Morty stiffens, “I-I broke your glasses! I-Im so sorry Rick… I-I don't even re-remember doing that!” Mortys entire face is red. “Oh my god. I-I'm sorry Ri-Rick.”

“Morty it's fine! Really!... I kind of freaked you out and you punched me in the face out of self defense... But my glasses took the beating, not my face so…” Rick straightens the blue glasses on his face, “... so everything's good.”

Morty groans, covering his face with his hands, “I can't believe I did that.”

“Don't be so down Morty, it happens… I just didn't peg you for a sad drunk.”

“What?” Morty's jaw drops, he looks completely baffled. “I have never been a sad drunk Rick.”

“Haha! So you have drank before!” Rick exclaims pointing an accusing finger at Morty's flushed and sweaty face.

Fuck, Rick made him slip up.

It's a rarity to find a Morty who actually drinks. And that makes him stick out like a sore thumb.

“Well y-y-yeah duh, never sa-said I didn't.” Morty rolls his third eye, trying to downplay it. “I-I used to st-steal alcohol from m-my Rick all the time.” It was kind of the truth. That was how he had started this bad habit.

“Okay.” Rick says sarcastically, eyeing Morty as if he didn't quite believe him.

“But…” The tone in Rick's voice is suddenly back to being serious, “I really am sorry I shouldn't have been so worried about you.”

“No, Rick i-it's honestly fine-” Morty starts but Rick cuts him off with a wave of his hand.

“No, I already told you that it's not fine. I was starting to get on your nerves and you almost died trying to prove to me that you were perfectly capable of defending yourself. Which I now realize you can… ”

Ricks head drops and he looks conflicted, as if recalling the events from their fight.

“Rick.” Morty hisses through clenched teeth, gaining the older mans attention. “It is perfectly fi-fine to worry ab-about someone. It's a-a sign that t-the person cares. But if y-you're going to a-a-apologize, apologize for yelling at me o-o-or something, n-not about be-being worried a-about me.”

Rick looks taken aback.

“Fuck your good with your little speeches.”

Ricks comment causes both of them to burst out laughing. Morty curls in on himself, hands around his stomach as Rick's hearty laughter echoes through the room.

“That w-was good.” Morty wipes an imaginary tear from his eye.

Rick nods, “So… how about some breakfast?” He asks, still chuckling a little as he stands up, “I'm starved.”

“Okay, I-I could totally go fo-for some eggs.” Morty wasn't really hungry but he figured they would continue their conversation over breakfast.

Following Rick down into the kitchen, Morty takes a seat. He frowns when he sees the table is once again covered in all sorts of alien stuff and half finished inventions.

After clearing off enough room for both of them, Morty turns towards Rick, who is going through the refrigerator.

He isn't surprised at all when Rick tosses a carton of milk on the table before grabbing some cereal and two bowls.

“Not up for cooking today?” Morty teases, “What did you burn yourself out?”

“Nah, just tired.” Rick responds, sitting down lethargically next to Morty, not even acknowledging his horrible pun.

Morty huffs and begins pouring milk and cereal into his bowl. He hasn't even realized how hungry he is until he takes the first bite. Morty soon starts shoveling it into his mouth, not even noticing that he's getting food everywhere.

But I guess a week of eating barely anything will do that to you.

Rick is the first one to break the silence.

“You're an insomniac?” It's more of a statement than a question.

“Yeah…” Morty swallows and puts his spoon down so he can look up at Rick. “H-How do you kn-know?”

“You uhhh told me last night. While you were fucking wasted. I didn't even know…“ Rick stops idling stirring his cereal, “W-Why didn't you tell me?”

Morty frowns, taking another large mouthful of cereal. “I didn't think it mattered.”

Rick is staring at Morty now. And it's making him very uncomfortable but he doesn't have the courage to speak up about it.

“I just can't believe it.”

Rick sounds surprised, shocked even.

“Can't believe what?” Morty squints at him.

“I’m an uhhh insomniac too. I get so paranoid or anxious sometimes, well most of the time… that I often can't sleep. It drives me mad.” Rick chuckles to himself.

Mortys drops his spoon.

“W-Why the hell di-didn't you tell me!” Morty shouts, copying Rick's early words. “W-We could have figured something o-o-out. N-No wonder you have such horrible of-off days!”

“I don't know.” Rick mumbles, eating a large spoonful of cereal. “I-I guess that I just kind of got used to it… And for the record you also have your horrible ‘off days’ too.”

Morty can't believe his ears, what are the chances that both a Rick and his Morty have insomnia.

A thought suddenly pops into his head about how to fix their current situation.

“Hey uhh ho-how about a-a deal?”

Rick perks up at Morty's words.

“In exchange for you laying off of me and stop treating me like i'm going to break any second, which includes taking me on all missions and not leaving me, I'll… I’ll… “ Morty trails off, unsure of what Rick would want from him in exchange.

Rick is quick to speak up.

“In return you have to to talk to me. When your hurt, scared, etc. Even when you think it doesn't matter. I still want to hear your opinion or if you don't/do want to do something and…” Rick stares hard at Morty, “No more dumb shit like that stunt you tried to pull.”

Morty doesn't know what to say, he was thinking more like ‘in return i'll do the dishes for a month’ kind of thing.

You know since he only had like one day left to kill Rick. And than he’d be out of here… Or dead.

“I can't promise the last thing, but i'll t-try… S-So deal.” Morty holds out his hand.

Rick takes his hand softly, shaking it as he nods, “Deal.”

“So… “ Rick starts, giving Morty a sly grin. “How about we finish breakfast and then go watch some tv? They have a new episode of Ball Hustlers.”

“Ball Hustlers?” Morty echoes, “In my universe it's called ‘Ball Fondlers’.” Morty drinks the last of the milk from the bottom of his bowl before he gets up from his chair.

“Pfft, that doesn't matter. Close enough.”

“R-Rick, I-I haven't even seen the f-first one! It w-w-won't make any sense if I-I watch the ne-newest episode.” Morty groans. Even in his universe he rarely ever watched Ball Hustlers so it's not like he could use that knowledge to help him.

“Well,” Rick stands up, tossing his dish into the sink, a sharp grin on his face. “I guess it just sucks to be you.”

…

They’re not even 10 minutes into the new episode when Morty hears a soft snoring coming from his left. He turns his head, eyes widening when he sees Ricks relaxed form on the couch.

He’d fallen asleep.

The realization strikes him as odd. Mortys rarely seen Rick sleeping in the months that he's been here, walking around like a zombie and exhausted maybe (except for that time when Rick shot him in the back) but not really actually asleep.

The man always seems to go to bed after Morty too…

But now that he knows Rick suffers from insomnia also, it kind of makes sense. He wonders how in the hell Rick functions on less sleep than he does.

Rick was pretty keen that he didn't want to miss this episode… “R-Rick?” Morty voices softly, gently shaking him, “Rick?”

There's no response from Rick, he doesn't even move.

Morty leans back, deciding to leave the man be. Ricks probably tired from last night. The man had stayed up into the wee hours of the morning, taking care of his drunken self who couldn't sleep.

Relaxing into the couch cushions, Morty's gaze flickers to Rick again.

The man looks so peaceful lying there.

For the first time since Morty met him, Rick seems relaxed. There's a small smile on his face and his chest is slowly rising and falling. But the ambient light of the tv and the birds chirping outside only serve to make Morty frown…

.

 

..

 

... 

 

_Now would be the perfect time to kill him._

It would be way too easy to silently sneak upstairs and grab the box Firbe had given him. It would be clean and hopefully painless. Morty wouldn't even have to worry about cleaning up. After destroying Ricks portal gun as a safety measure he would portal out of here and go back to his shitty world.

But… Morty can't even kid himself into thinking that he'd actually be able to go through with it.

He loves Rick.

Morty simply pulls the blankets up closer around Rick so it sits comfortably below his chin before sitting on the floor to watch tv. Mortys quick to doze off, having only gotten a couple hours of sleep himself.

Maybe Morty will get lucky and he’ll be murdered in his sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I wanted your guys opinion on something… I was wondering if I should write this story again, except from Rick's perspective? Same dialogue, same choices but in a totally different perspective. I hate switching povs in a story so i'm not going to suddenly insert that… But I was wondering after I finish this story, I could make it a sequel that you could read separately or together? Give me your thoughts please, thank you! :)


	17. Plot Twist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello you guys! Someone made me fanart of Three Eye Morty :) It was so AWESOME that I had to share it with you guys! This was made by AcidTears and her instagram is @SolarSphinxx if you want to check her out. 
> 
> (And please let me know if the link doesn't work! I have never done this before) 
> 
> https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3WBMlE4PClaR2VjUHBDUXowakk/view?usp=drivesdk

Hello you guys! Someone made me fanart of Three Eye Morty :) It was so AWESOME that I had to share it with you guys! This was made by AcidTears and her instagram is @SolarSphinxx if you want to check her out. 

(And please let me know if the link doesn't work! I have never done this before) 

[ https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3WBMlE4PClaR2VjUHBDUXowakk/view?usp=drivesdk ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3WBMlE4PClaR2VjUHBDUXowakk/view?usp=drivesdk)

  
  
  
  
  


 

Morty wakes up slowly. 

His vision keeps drifting in and out of focus and he feels weirdly lethargic. 

Like he's gotten way too much sleep. 

Head luling to the side, Morty's quick to notice that whatever spot he's resting in, its puting uncomfortable pressure on his back. So he simply tries rolling over… 

Only to realize that he's actually sitting upright and his hands are bound tightly behind his back. 

Heart beginning to pound, Morty starts to struggle in panic. With wide eyes he desperately tries to find any looseness in the rope but it's quick to dawn on him that it's hopeless attempt. And every movement seems to be making the cuffs digg tighter into Morty's wrists so he goes still.

A soft tapping sound soon directs Morty's attention to his right. 

Blinking through the fog clouding his mind he's confused to see… 

_ Rick _ ? 

The man is standing with his back to Morty, hunched over his workbench… but it's  _ obviously  _ Rick. 

Or  _ a  _ Rick. 

“Don't worry Morty, the drug I gave you should wear off soon. I-It's-It's just a safety measure.” 

Rick didn't even have the decency to look at Morty as he spoke, seeming too fixated on whatever was in front of him to even notice his  fear.

Mortys heart sank painfully into his stomach, settling there like a pile of sharp stones. He felt sick. And if he wasn't secretly having a panic attack than he would definitely be throwing up everywhere. 

As if somehow sensing the change in Morty's stiff demeanor, Rick perked up as he began fiddling with something in his hands that Morty couldn't quite see. 

“Don't worry Morty, everythings fine. Ju-Just give me a second to finish this… “

Morty doesn't know if Rick had been trying to be reassuring or not, but it was for sure as hell  _ not.   _

He was talking to Morty like nothing had happened. Like he had not just woken up  _ tied to a chair _ with Rick telling him that he's been  _ drugged _ and that he should  **_relax_ ** _.  _

Morty swallows loudly. Eyes fixated on the back of Rick's head. Morty can clearly see the blue glasses peeking out from the sides of the mans blue hair. 

This is actually Four Eye Rick. 

_ His  _ Rick. 

The older man suddenly turns towards Morty, displaying the now broken box that Firbe had given him on the cluttered desk behind him. 

_ Fuck _ . 

Ricks looking at Morty intently. All of the man's emotions are concealed tidily on the his face, and it's pushing Morty over the edge. 

Morty should have known it would come to this…  Rick has _killed_ many Morty's before him. _Why had he thought that he_ _would be any different-_

“Tell me everything.” 

Ricks voice is sharp, demanding…  _ emotionless.  _ Morty nods quickly, fearing for his life. His voice comes out small, quiet, barely a whisper. 

“O-O-Okay.” 

Morty feels like his brain is shutting down. He can practically feel his insides  _ melting.  _

But Morty tells Rick  _ everything _

… starting from the very beginning.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


After Morty's done talking, he's out of breath and just wants to lay down and die. 

Through the whole ordeal Rick had asked a few questions here and there (especially when it came to Shetyrp Flurytu), but otherwise the man remained silent most of the time. And Morty doesn't think that's a good sign. 

Rick is still staring at him. 

He doesn't even look surprised  _ at all _ . 

Letting out a big sigh the older man suddenly speaks quietly with a loud sigh, “I-I knew everything from the start Morty.” 

Leaning against one of the shelves in his garage,  Rick looks weirdly relaxed. “I knew that you were sent here to kill me from the very beginning. It's honestly not shocking but like 95% of the Morty's I get are sent from her. All wanting the same fucking thing.” 

Morty goes still, face tightening in utter shock. 

_ Rick… knew.  _

_ He knew from the start this was all a facade.  _

“I can practically see the question on your face Morty,” Rick grins. “Oh? What's that?” He puts a hand up to his ear, “Why don't I just stop accepting Morty's if they're all trying to kill me? Well… If i'm going to kill Shetyrp Flurytu once and for all, I need all the information I can get. And guess who has little bits of that information?”  

Morty is pretty sure that Rick's gone insane.

He dosen’t know  _ this _ Rick. 

“The last Morty I had wasn't very useful. “ Rick drums his fingers against his chin. “He was just way too obvious about his intentions… Well all of them were really…” Rick pauses, scratching his chin. “But than you came along.”  

Ricks voice suddenly turns bitter, “At first you seemed like a normal Morty. Shy, stuttered a lot, terribly anxious about everything, and blah blah blah… But then you started coming out of your shell and I realized how fucked up a life you must have had to become such a mini Rick. You got into fights. You got drunk. You smoked. You had panic attacks. You looked like you never slept. You even killed that one Morty without even batting an eye… And oh yeah, that entire mission had been a test too. It was a simulation I made. I just didn't plan on you getting shot... You could actually fight. You back talked. You made inappropriate jokes… At first it was weird but then…” 

Rick abruptly stops, voice faltering. 

He swallowed loudly, before continuing, “But then I started to… kind of, like it in this weird way…” 

Rick looks at the box on his desk for a few silent moments before he speaking again. “But then again most Morty's don't have to go through half of the shit you went through…” 

Looking a little sheepish Rick's voice lowers, “Sorry for the rant.” He glances over at Morty before looking back over to his workbench. 

“Last night was the final test.” Rick's face goes dark as he looks down at his feet. “I faked falling asleep on the couch. Y-You could have killed me Morty. You were totally able to kill me, especially with the box I found in your room, so tell me Morty… Why… Why didn't you?” 

Mortys heart is jammed in his swollen throat. He feels like he can't breath, can't  _ speak.  _

“R-Rick… “  _ I love you.  _

He almost says it but something holds him back. Mortys hurt beyond belief that Rick of all people is going to  _ end him _ , is going to finally  _ kill him _ . Its obvious that Rick isn't going to allow him to live now that he knows Rick's secret. 

_ And why would he tell the person who's about to kill him that he loves them? _ Rick would never believe it anyway and would probably view it as a manipulation tactic. 

“Yo-You're the f-f-first R-Rick,  _ ever… th- _ that was… decent… no, n-nice to m-me.” Morty stutters. It's a honest answer but it's only part of the truth. 

Rick nods, but otherwise stays silent as if encouraging Morty to continue. 

“I've been t-through a lot of R-R-Ricks.” Morty takes a deep breath, “Things ne-never worked… they were horrible t-to me, or I was to-too annoying for them to put u-up with, s-s-some just kept me as a shield… b-but then I-I stumbled upon my la-last Rick.” Morty feels tears prick at his eyes, he wants to rub them off his face but he's not able to.  

He doesn't want to talk about this but yet he spits it out anyway. 

“He… H-He was by far the worst. He was em-emotionally abusive and hi-his entire family was so fucked u-up… So when he d-died, I stole his portal g-gun and left. I figured a-a-any place would have been be-better than remaining t-there… And getting a-another Rick wasn't an option.” 

Morty looks down and waits for Rick to reply.

… 

The silence causes Morty to look up startled from where he had been staring at the stained floor. 

Rick is holding up the needle that Morty got from Firbe. The dim light from the garage is reflecting off the glass, making it look even more horrific. Like a acaulating snake Rick slithers towards Morty, the deadly weapon firm in his hand. There's this weird emotion on Rick's face that Morty's never seen before. 

Shocked, Morty finds himself unable to look away from Rick's loathing eyes. Hes helpless to stop the shallow and quick breaths he's taking in panic, along with the thundering jackhammering in his chest that makes it feel like his body is about to implode. 

He knows he should be calm. He's going to die for fucks sake! This is the moment he's spent years thinking about, trying to avoid, and even in some bad cases  _ do  _ but he's not. Oh god no, he doesn't know what comes after death… but yet… he still feels this undertone of  _ relief _ . 

_ And least he won't be in pain for much longer.  _

Mortys voice is hoarse, just a quiet stutter as his body begins to tremble. 

“Can yo-you please j-j-just make i-it quick Rick?” 

Morty prays that Rick isn't planning on torturing him. Morty told him everything he knew. God, he wouldn't be able to withstand seeing Rick of all the people he's ever met,  _ break him.  _

All Morty wanted was to be happy… 

And he had found that here with Rick… 

But that was just a  _ facade _ . 

Rick had been  _ testing  _ him. 

Rick had probably only been acting nice to gain Morty's trust and therefore information…  _ Like the kind that Morty had just given him.  _

Mortys chuckle crackles. A soft smile spreads across his face as if he's just remembered some funny joke. Like some mad man Morty's grin widens slightly at the thought that he could have actually been  _ happy.  _

Tears are suddenly falling silently down Morty's face. He can't stop. It burns in the back of his throat how he's not even strong enough to hold back his pathetic crying. But Morty can't help the hiccupping sobs coming from his chest that are threatening to split him open. 

_ He is going to die.  _

Morty should feel clarity. In most of the movies he watches when a character is about to die they feel calm and they are  _ ready  _ to die. 

But he's definitely not! 

He's the exact opposite. Starting to thrash, horrified, Morty doesn't bite back the wild scream building up in his throat. 

Rick stops in front of Morty, casting a dark shadow over his shaking figure as the man draws closer. 

Suddenly lithe hands are wrapping around his fragile neck. And Morty realizes how utterly helpless he is.

Lurching away from the touch, Morty waits, frozen, for the sharp pinch of the needle to pierce his unprotected skin. 

… 

… 

But it doesn't happen. 

After a few moments, Morts dimly aware of hearing the needle drop to the floor with a soft  _ tink.  _

Morty stops trying to get away when he realizes that Rick is actually…  _ hugging _ him. The hands around his neck are not trying to strangle him but rather they are gentle and… shaking?

“M-Morty. Oh my god Morty. I-I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to kill you. Shhh Morty I need you to calm down, you're okay… I was just going to cut your arms free.” Rick says frantically, in a panic of his own. 

As if he just realized what Morty's words actually implied. 

With a swift undo of one knot, the rope around Morty's hands quickly comes undone.

Mortys quick to act, fueled on adrenaline and cold hard fear. He jerks, shoving Rick off of him without a second thought. 

Mortys breathing heavily. And he's scared and confused. 

He can't even think. 

All Morty wants is to just sink into the floor and simply disappear from everything but his brain isn't working correctly and Morty doesn't even notice that he's freaking out. So he snatches up the forgotten needle by his foot and lunges forward, jabbing it into Rick's neck before Morty can even realize what he's doing. 

Rick falls backwards in slow motion. 

The man's hands scramble to grab something,  _ anything _ to keep him upright before he hits the floor hard. The shelves behind Rick tip over because of his frantic movements, sending everything on them to the ground in a loud and chaotic display. 

All of Morty's eyes widen and the empty needle drops from his trembling fingers.

Suddenly his own fingers are clawing into his cheeks, raking down his face as the realization strikes him of what the hell he just did. 

He 

 

_                      killed  _

 

**** **_Rick_ ** _.  _

Pain is beginning to bloom under all of Morty's panic but he doesn't really feel it… or  _ anything  _ for that matter. 

Mortys beginning to feel numb. A tingly feeling is fastly spreading through his body and right up to his brain. Everything is rushing by Morty faster than he can comprehend.

But than Rick stands up. 

Morty shoots backward, knocking over several large inventions with loud  _ CLANKS _ in his desperate struggle to get away from the ghost he's sure he's seeing. He falls to the floor and grabs the nearest object, a wrench, and holds it out in front of him threateningly. 

Rick straightens himself before feeling for the bloody needle poking out of the back of his neck with a pained face. 

“M-Morty, what… what the fuck.” Rick hisses, yanking it out sharply before tossing the thing to the ground, crushing the needle easily under his foot with a satisfying crunch. 

Ricks  _ alive.  _

Morty feels faint. He's pretty sure he's hallucinating right now. He must be dreaming… 

Or maybe he died because he was pretty sure that he just stabbed Rick with the needle meant to kill him. 

The older man holds up his hands in mock surrender. 

“M-Morty, I already emptied the needle. It only had a little air in it. And you only stabbed me in the neck with it and didn't push the syringe down… And thank god for that. If air had gotten into my bloodstream it would have killed me.” Rick chuckles out of breath, voice sounding strained. 

Breathing hard and chest heaving violently Morty firmly keeps the weapon fixated at him.

“Morty.” Rick says firmly, calmly, as he outstretches his hand. It almost reaches the wrench before Morty instinctively swings the weapon and Rick snaps his arm back as if just realizing that it maybe wasn't the best idea. 

“Morty. I'm not going to kill you… you understand that right?”

Morty sees red. 

“Th-Th-Than why the fuck did I-I wake up tied to a chair and drugged! Tell m-me fucking why Rick! I-I-Is this your v-version of playing with me because that's twisted a-a-and fucked up! Ev-Even I wouldn’t f-fucken do that! If y-you're going to kill me, just do i-it now!” 

Morty takes a step towards Rick, drawing his shirt down and away from his neck, the other arm that's carrying the wrench goes limp at his side. 

“Morty, if I wanted you dead I would have done it already!” Rick takes a step back, eying the weapon in Morty's grip wearily. “I didn't mean to scare you! Tying you to the chair was just in case you panicked and tried to run! All the other Mortys-” 

“W-W-Why the fuck would I run! Y-You even said it yourself! I-I-I passed your stupid l-little fucking test!” The anger practically drips off Morty's words like bittersweet poison. 

Ricks face goes blank. 

He doesn't speak for a few moments. He just…  stares at Morty. 

Defiance in his eyes, Morty stares right back. His chest is still heaving frantically, especially after all of his yelling, but Morty's too focused on Rick to even notice. 

The man's voice is eerie quiet when he finally speaks. 

“I… I thought it might still be a ploy. I thought you still might be trying to manipulate me into a false sense of security still… I… I thought you still kind of wanted me dead.” 

Rick falls back into a chair, body curling in on itself as he tips his head down and closes his eyes. “Oh shit. I'm sorry. I messed up Morty. I fucking messed up big time.” Rick covers his face with his hands. 

But Mortys not done with him yet, his heart's still racing, and his anxiety is spiked. “Well if you aren't going to kill me, are you going to torture me instead! I told you everything I know Rick!... What more do you want!” 

He’s completely taken aback when Rick looks up and there are  _ tears _ in his eyes. It sends a spark or regret through his mind and Morty's anger wavers before it simply vanishes. 

The weapon Morty's holding clatters to the floor. Feeling sick with himself and this fucked up situation Morty drops onto the floor next to Rick. 

“I-I’m so sorry M-M-Morty.” 

Rick sounds broken. 

It makes Morty's heart squeeze painfully. Morty wants to reassure him that everything's okay but he's not sure if it is. 

“S-Shit Morty, your face.” 

Rick reaches out his fingers towards Morty's cheek where his uncut nails had tore into his own skin. Morty could feel the dried blood sticking to his face but it didn't bother him in the slightest.

Morty instinctively leans back, his voice rough. “R-Rick I-I’m fine.” 

Hurt flashes across Ricks face. 

They fall into silence again. 

… 

“Morty… You want to live right?” 

Rick doesn't even wait for Morty to respond before he continues, “Shetyrp Flurytu is going to send people after you, after  _ us.  _ So we need to leave _. _ … There going to be here tomorrow, maybe even in the next few hours if they get antsy, so we should leave  _ now.  _ As in like the next five minutes. _ ”  _

“Wait, ho-how did y-you know that?” Morty stutters, squinting up at Rick. He didn't remember telling Rick about the note he found in the closet. 

“You left the letter you got from Shetyrp Flurytu crumpled up on the floor and well… curiosity killed the cat.” Rick shrugs nonchalantly before turning around and snatching something off his workbench. 

Rick grabs Morty's arm and before the boy can even comprehend what's happening, a small metal band is being slipped around his wrist. The grey band instantly retracts and is quick to tighten (almost painfully) against Morty's skin. In the middle of the thin band a single green light blinks softly. 

Morty looks questioningly up at Rick, a million questions on his tongue. But he knows now isn't the time and place (and he's so fucking tired) so he stays quiet. 

… And he kind of trusts Rick. 

Rick moves and grabs something off the wall and tosses Morty… a small backpack? Morty catches the lightweight object easily in his hands as Rick shrugs his own matching one on. 

“There's food, water, and tons of other shit in there. Were going to need it.” Rick steps over and opens one of the zippers on Morty's to reveal exactly what he had said, along with a couple of extra things Morty can't identify. 

“Also feel free to grab any weapons you want.” Rick gestures to a wall full of clean -and not so clean- weapons. Morty must have been too caught up in having freaking out because he didn't even notice the wall filled with weapons untill now. 

Mortys jaw drops. And he can practically feel himself drooling. 

Reaching out a hesitant hand, Morty hums softly when his fingers come into contact with something that's instinctively familiar. Gently lifting up a worn (and slightly bloody) gun, Morty relishes the feeling of the familiarness of it. But yet it also feels odd and foreign.

Morty balances the gun in his hand. It's a little heavy and bulkier than he would like, but it'll have to do for now. Grabbing a holster, Morty is quick to clip it onto his belt with agile fingers. Double checking that it's on the inside of his jeans so his shirt hides the weapon, Morty turns back towards the wall. 

Feeling satisfied,  _ and safer,  _ Morty turns back to Rick. 

Rick picks up a high tec flamethrower and begins burning all his stuff, eyes cold. He mutters something under his breath about it being a waste but Morty understands that he can't leave anything behind that could be used against them. Morty just stares as the inventions that line the shelves, floor, and counter quickly melt and spark, forming lumpy but colorful puddles on the floor. 

It only takes a few more minutes before Ricks done and he turns towards a panel on the wall, beginning to type frantically. 

Rick finally presses a button and a female voice suddenly calls out robotically. 

“Preparing for total fucked mode… Self destruction will begin in 29 seconds. All doors are locked and weapons will be initiated towards any life forms except for Rick and Morty.” 

Red lights start flashing from several places in the room and a thick metal wall slides in front of the garage door. 

Stepping away from Rick, Morty realizes how precise Rick is being with all of this. Mortys shocked. In a manner of a minute Rick's got weapons, burned all his shit, and set his house to self destruct mode. 

“How a-are you able to do this so fast and organized? Ho-How many times have y-y-you done this?” Morty runs his fingers unconsciously over the gun under his shirt as Rick creates a swirling green portal with his portal gun. 

“I've actually done this about twenty or thirty times now,” Rick glances over his shoulder so he can look Morty over with an approving nod, “I just… I just uhhh never planned to take a Morty…  _ you _ with me.”

  
And with that they step through the portal. 


	18. Life Only Gets Worse Ya Know

The bullet missed.

Again.

Morty let out a sharp string of curses that would make even a sailor blush, before lowering the gun that was being squashed fiercely in his grip. No matter what, Morty just couldn't seem to get a hang of his new gun. Was it too bulky? Maybe he wasn't used to it yet?...

Or had he just lost his skills?

No, that couldn't possibly be it. Morty strictly reminded himself. He couldn't have possibly lost his touch in such a short amount of time.

Raising the gun back up with a new sense of focus Morty aimed for a tree off in the distance, the night scene only lit up only by the nearby porch light.

The gun fired.

…

And the bullet whizzed right past its intended target.

Muffling a shriek, Morty resisted the urge to chuck the weapon as far as he could into the forest. He needed to be able to shoot his gun. Why wasn't it working?! Why couldn't he hit goddamn anything!

Morty was just about ready to throw his gun into the trees and just walk away when Rick's voice rang out from the house behind him.

“M-Morty come in here! We found something!”

“I-I’m busy!” Morty shot back, trying to contain his frustration. Practice, he need more practice.

“Get your ass in here! It'll only take a couple minutes to-to explain!”

Too angry to answer without raising his voice, Morty just shoved his gun back into his belt before walking into the Rick's house. Since after this morning his Rick had thought that the safest place to hide would be at one of his friends house in another dimension. And apparently the Rick living here also happened to owe him a favor.

Upon entering, Morty looked around. His Rick and his doppelganger were gathered around the messy kitchen table while the other Rick's Morty, a telekinetic Morty was watching tv.

Telekinetic Morty jumped up upon hearing him come in and hastily ran over to Morty with a bounce in his step, a tired yet wired smile lighting up his features.

“Hi Th-Three Eye!” Telekinetic Morty, dubbed Ketic for short, greeted him, way too enthusiastic for it being so late at night. But his charisma and heartfelt greeting helped Morty relax… a little. Because how could someone be rude to such a radiant beam of sunshine? It was infectious.

“How was p-practice?” Ketic asked curiously, eyes trained on his weapon as Morty shut the door behind him carefully. “I-I’m guessing n-not ver-very good?”

Briefly wondering if Ketic had been watching him, Morty couldn't help but chuckle at the intrigue the other had been showing about his gun since he got here. With a shrug Morty simply lied, “It was good… Well I-I’m getting better a-a-at least.” No need to tell him he was secretly having a breakdown.

Morty would love to give Ketik a basic tutorial on how to use a gun but not until he could at least shoot decently so as to not embarrass himself.

Remembering that Rick had called him in here for something he turned towards the two Ricks at the table, hands on his hips. “Okay, wha-what did y-you guys find?”

“Okay, so,” Rick looked up from where he'd been intensely reading something. “We didn't -exactly- discover anything new but I just wanted you to come inside so you'd take a break. Youve been shooting your gun out back for hours and it's way past dark now anyways.”

Morty unsuccessfully held back his slowly bubbling anger. “Rick, I'm not a kid.”

“Your fucking 13.”

“Well age doesn't always equal maturity. Most Ricks are an example of that.” Morty instantly snapped back, tone sharp with the intent to hurt. Gone was the calmness Ketic had instilled in him a second earlier.

“I-I’m going back out.” Morty walked back over to the door. It was clear that Rick was just going to baby him if he stayed.

“Just le-leave the kid aALone.”

Morty paused, momentarily shocked to find that it had been the other quiet Rick that had spoken up.

“I would but the kid ca-can’t fucking take care of himself.”

“A day without eEating isn't going to make h-him starve. Hes obviously gOt a lot on his mind. JUust-”

His Rick interrupted him, face turning red. “Why are you guys suddenly ganging up on me? And a fyi he's not your Morty so fuck off.”

The other Rick just rolled his eyes and went back to drinking his coffee, seeming unworried as he tacked on, “Your too attached for a Rick.”

Mortys feet froze when Ricks cool fingers wrapped around his wrist, pulling him out backwards. Rick looked pissed and Morty was pretty sure the cause of it wasn't him for once.

Still in a daze from what the other Rick had said, Morty almost missed Ricks snappy, “No you aren't.”

With a snarl in the back of his throat, Morty almost couldn't believe that only this morning hed seen the man show vulnerability and actually cry. What had happened to that Rick?

“Rick don-don-don't do this” Mortys glanced down at his arm before looking up at Rick again, “You have fi-five seconds to remove your hand before I-I-I do it myself.”

“M-Morty come on. Be a responsible adult-”

“You just-you just said that I wasn-wasn't a fucking adult!” Morty pointed out the contradiction instantly, not queeling the thought of how that was such a Rick thing to do.

It was easy, way too easy to twist his hand out of Rick's iron-vise grip like a wip and storm back out into the night. Call him a hormonal teenager, but Rick honestly didn't think that Morty could take care of himself. And they had been over this a while ago.

Why was Rick acting like this again?

“Just come back i-i-in Morty, and stop being so fucking stubborn.” Rick yelled behind him, slamming the door open further as Morty jumped down the steps.

“Rick, listen. We've had this exact conversation before.” Morty groaned, refraining from tearing at his hair. When would Rick actually realize he could take care of himself?

“Morty-”

Morty finally just shook his head and opened a portal before replying, “You know what. I-I need something… I’ll be ba-back in a bit.”

And gave no other explanation or information before stepping through it.

His feet hit the white tile of the citadel with a dull thud and Morty found himself immersed in a sea of various, wacky Rick and Mortys. No one paid any attention to him, and Morty fingered the Schmeckles Rick had given him earlier in his pocket.

Morty had at first just wanted to get away but he also fucking wanted cigarettes. And maybe some alcohol. Just a little.

Morty stood on his tippy toes, trying to see beyond the masses of Rick and Morty's for some kind of drug, alcohol, or even a weed store. Fuck, all he wanted was to drown himself in alcohol and cigarettes. It’d help him calm down and-

“Why is that Morty running around without a Rick?”

A Morty asked curiously, promptly drawing Morty's attention to beside him where a Rick was walking by with a hammer Morty.

“HoooOw the fuck am I supposed to know?... He's UHHhh probably lost… or was aBBandoned.” The Rick answered, not even glancing at him.

“Fuc-Fuck you too old man.” Morty spat without hesitation at the Rick that was staring at him like he was a stray dog, “Mabye I-I-I abandoned h-him.”

“Ah…” The Rick was momentarily surprised by his outburst but quickly recovered. “CoMe on Morty, we-we have places to be. Lets leave this piece of shit alone.”

Not really expecting the Rick to get scared off that easily, Morty wondered what the Rick had been thinking.

And with that the two left him and Morty went off in search of a place where he could buy cigarettes. Turning away from the two retreating figures Morty went off in search of cigarettes and alcohol.

After ten minutes Morty had found a bar so he had also drank a couple bottles of alcohol. And than finally got his hands on some cigarettes and smoked almost the entire pack before he was interrupted.

But it wasn't long before a portal appeared in front of him and Ketic came tumbling through it, almost landing on his face.

Kind of expecting this, Morty used his free arm to help steady him up before asking, “What are y-you doing here?”

“Your Ric- They wanted me-me to bring y-you back.” Ketic said a little distracted, staring at the cigarette in his mouth with a complex expression. Like when a little brother found his older brother drinking and thinking it was the coolest thing ever.

“Wa-Want to try?” Morty offered, not able to keep the cheshire grin off his face.

Ketic hesitated, looking like he wanted to take the extended cigarette that had just been in Mortys mouth before hastily shaking his head. “No-No thanks, we should uhhhh get-get going… like as in hea-head back.”

“I have one more thing I have to uhh do and th-than well leave.” Ketics lips twitched, looking like he was about to protest so Morty quickly added, “I'm th-the one who has the portal gun so…” Morty grinned, “I guess I have t-the control here.”

Ketic huffed, wrapping his arms around himself. “F-Fine… but-”

The cigarette pulled free from his lips, like an invisible hand had grabbed it. And it startled Morty. Having forgotten about the others telekinetic ability since Morty had rarely seen him use it.

“No more cigarettes,” Ketics gaze was fixed on the ground covered in recently smoked cigarettes.

Now it was Mortys turn to give in. “Okay, whatever.” He may have gone a little overboard with them…

“What do you need to get anyways?” Morty asked, the cigarette that had been in Mortys mouth seconds ago dropping onto the ground.

Morty chuckled softly, “A better gun.”

…

…

…

“C-Can I look at that one?”

The Rick behind the counter snickered, “Sure.” as if to humor himself.

As soon as it was placed in his hand Morty knew he wanted to buy it. It was the exact same type of gun that he's carried for years. Just a little differently styled. And it didn't even need ammo but rather ran off a small piece of Pentibezic Trisulfide contained in its barrel.

“I’ll take it.” Morty said calmly, examining it for a price tag.

“Pshhh I aAIn’t going t-to sell a gun to a Morty. WhEres your Rick?”

Morty bit back his well practised ‘I don't have one’ response and instead tried to remain calm, “Wh-Why do you care? I got t-the money.”

The Rick shook his head, on the verge of laughter, “But yo-your just a MMOorty. You might accidentally shoot someone-one and try to guess who your Rick would blAMme?”

“Just l-let me pay fo-for the fucking gun.” Morty breathed out as monotone as he could, refraining from giving into the ache suddenly pestering his trigger finger.

Ketic began desperately pulling at the back of his shirt, trying to direct him towards the open door of the gun shop before a fight started. “I-I-I think we-we should go…“

Shaking the other off with an irritated look, Morty was about to spit back a sarcastic reply and start a fight when when Ketic cut him off, sounding frantic.

“Please. I-I don't want to ge-get in trouble with m-m-my Rick.”

The Morty was looking up at him with wide pleading eyes. Startled by the nervous desperation on the others face Morty found himself slowly nodding, “Okay. Fine… It's not worth it-it anyway. We’ll leave-”

“Yeah y-you uggghhhh better get out before I-I fucking shoot your ass. God damn rogue M-M-Mortys.”

Halfway through dropping the gun back on the counter, Morty did a double take.

Did that Rick really just threaten them?

Head turning slowly to face the Rick, Morty's third eye narrowed dangerously as his vision went red.

Morty was vaguely aware of something trying to pull him back as he swung the gun in his hand up. The Rick instantly reacted, launching himself over the counter to knock the weapon out of his hands. But Morty had already ducked and unlocked the safety on his gun.

The best thing about being a Morty was that no one really expected him to attack.

Stepping away, Morty tilted the gun downwards. Right at the Ricks foot. So used to the sharp bang of the gun firing, his brain didn't even register the sound.

“D-Don't fucken threaten me.” Mortys face twisted into sheer anger before grabbing Ketic and getting the fuck out of there.

When they disappeared into giant crowd of Rick and Morty's, they're running trickled down to a fast walk.

They'd probably wouldn't be caught. Morty had triple checked for any cameras there (which was stupid that he didn't have any) but they still couldn't stick around for long. As they both had distinguishing features that would be easy to pick them out from a lineup. Being his third eye and Ketics bandage wrapped around his head.

Thrilled with adrenaline, Morty turned to the other with a huge grin, “Oh my-my, that was so cool! Did u see the Ricks face-”

“Cool! How was that cool!?”

Mortys head turned to stare at the twisted panicked expression on the others face.

“W-We need to leave- to-to go back bef-before he come after us!”

Morty nodded solemnly, knowing he was right as he grabbed his portal gun and shot a portal. It only took a few seconds before they were in the backyard of Ketics house.

Morty went to grab his sucky gun on his belt, only to find that he was still holding the one from earlier.

Shit… but also cool because he didn't even have to pay for it.

“What i-is your Rick like?” Morty asked when realizing Ketic hadn’t gone back into the house. He hoped it would distract Ketic from what had just happened. Morty absentmindedly ran a finger along the gun, feeling hope light up in his chest. Now, he'd be able to actually shoot like his old self.

Ketic smiled, one that lit up his eyes. “Yo-Yo-You know he's a little rough around the edges but h-he's a good person… well kindof. You know how Ricks are.”

Morty nodded, echoing his laugh.

“W-Well what about you?”

“Oh, m-me?” Morty rolled his shoulders, not having expected the question. “Y-You don't want to hear about all the Ricks i've had.”

“R-Ricks? How many have… Wait ne-nevermind. “ The Morty head tilted downwards, gaining a regretful guilty stance.

“I'm sorry.”

His voice was full of pity.

Morty brushed it off, trying to ignore the anger bubbling up inside him. They didn't matter anyways. “It's no big dea-deal really. I've known M-Mortys way worse off th-than me.”

“Bu-But that doesn't justify anything. Your a good Morty-”

Morty laughed, chest heaving. Him being good. Now that was funny.

“Really.” The Morty pressed, “I've only known you for a short while but I can… I can tell you that your good.”

“I've killed Mortys.”

It was out of his mouth before he could stop it.

Mortys eyes narrowed into slits. He kept his eyes looking straight forward. He will not regret his past decisions.

“That-That…” The other Morty starts, “I don't think… I'm p-p-pretty sure you have a good expl-explanation for it. Were y-you forced to?”

“I've killed Mortys… How does that not bother you?” Morty repeated, disbelief compelling him to rudeness.

Ketic went to open his mouth but Morty butted in.

“I told you that i've killed Morty's before, yo-you... you should be scared of me!” Morty whispered harshly, eyes glinting with hidden malice like a sheathed weapon. He wanted so badly to raise his voice but he knew better than to yell out that he was a murder.

Ketic looked conflicted for a few seconds, as if unsure of how to form a response that wouldn't escalate the situation. He finally rested on giving Morty a soft sad-lipped smile.

Ketic pitied him.

“You even said before that you had no other choice. Your universe, your circumstances gave you no other chances. You did what you had to survive and you-you didn't draw any pleasure from it. It… It was just a job to you.”

Ketic kept both eyes trained on him.

“You're not a murder Three Eye Morty.”

“I-I… I… “ Morty faltered for words, perplexed and seemingly loss in the turn of the conversation. “I-I never told yo-you that. An-Any of that.”

Morty recoiled away from the other. His hands clenching tightly into fists.

Where... How did Ketic get that information?

A spike of fear coursed through Morty. He was suddenly alert and he wondered what else Ketic knew about him. How did he know?! Was he a spy? So Morty of course did what came naturally to him when he felt threatened.

A fist flashed across the others face, and Mortys fist barreled into his nose hard.

Ketic shrieked, there was blood and Morty ran.

But not before Morty looked back, only to see the utterly betrayed and pained face Ketic was staring at Mortys retreating figure with. Mortys head snapped forward.

He didn't care, he told himself. That it didn't matter if he had been building up a good friendship with Ketic. Or that he had just burnt that bridge and stopped it into the ground.

Morty jumped out into another road, dazed as he narrowly avoided being hit by a car. They honked angrily but Morty was already running down the road, street lamps racing past him as he breathed in the cold frigid night air that burned his lungs. He had to bite down his lip to keep down the guilt eating at his insides.

Morty hastily put as much distance between the other Morty as he could.

Remember this is why you don't have friends. His brain rattled at him.

Finally feeling like he was far away enough, and didn't have to keep fleeing like a frightened rabbit, Morty slumped against the closest building wall. Pulling a cigarette out of his pack with unsteady fingers, Morty wondered why he was so fucked up.

Why had he hit Ketic?

It only took a minute before a portal appeared, disrupting the anything but quiet night and Rick walked through, not looking happy at all.

Morty let out a demented laugh at the thought that Rick probably hated that because of him he's had to use portal gun so much in one day.

“Th-The bracelet right?” Morty said slowly, holding up the bracelet clasped tightly around his wrist. It was the only thing that Morty could think of that could have lead Rick to him. Or he had a bug hidden somewhere in his clothes.

Rick was staring at him with -that- look. And Morty knew that he had fucked up.

Again.

“I-I didn't kill anyone Rick.” Morty said exasperatedly, rolling the lighter over in his tingly feeling hands. Than he tacked on. “I only shot a Rick i-i-in the foot.”

Rick was silent for a great while, probably only for a minute in reality, before he spoke.

“We-We'll talk l-later. I-I can’t eve-even” His voice so strained with anger that he stuttered with his words. Ricks entire body just screamed that he was not at all happy. And if Morty thought Rick was pissed before he was livid now. His clenched fists looked ready to strangle Morty.

And with a flash of Ricks portal was gone.

Morty lifted up the new stolen gun and shot it at the shot where Rick disappeared.

He still missed. 


	19. Dissociation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter but I hit and wall and wondering how I should have this play out.

It was cold.

But Morty had gone numb a while ago.

The poor three eyed boy was still sitting with his back up against the the ice machine in front of the gas station, surprised that the cashier inside the tiny establishment hadn't told him to scram yet. Then again he wasn't bugging the customers so they why should they care?

Trying to further retreat into his thin shirt, Morty let out a long shivering breath as the sun began to rise. It was fucking freezing but Morty would much rather get hypothermia than have to deal with Rick right now.

Sadly it would only be a matter of time before Rick came to get him anyways (if he came back at all). The bracelet thing on his wrist was keeping track of where he was at all times…

He didn't know what to think of the constricting metal bracelet.

…

If Morty could he would choose to stay here in this universe, to stay and restart everything over again without Rick. Without any Rick. Morty knew he could probably find a way to break the tracking bracelet and if not he could always chop off his arm. Than he could get a job, find a place to stay and try to make something of his miserable and tragic life here on Earth. It wasn't his Earth exactly but…

The dreamy look on his face shattered.

But…

Sherty flurrp would find him eventually. She always-

A hand waved in front of his face. Mortys third eye shot open as he let out a painful breath that he didn't know he had been holding in. Rick muttered something detogorative at his slow response but it was lost on him.

“R-R-Rick?”

Mortys third eye blinked sluggishly. Like he had just woken been woken up in the middle of a dream.

“What… What ar-are you doing here?” Morty found himself asking, despite already knowing the answer.

Rick just rolled his eyes as he adjusted the glasses on his sour looking face, “I figured that once you threw your little fit last night that you'd come back but... I woke up this morning and wa-was sorely mistaken.” The older man sighed heavily, like Morty had suddenly become this huge burden on him.

When Morty remained silent and still, Rick quickly ushered for him to get up, “Co-Come on Morty, I’m going to be on my deathbed by the time you decide to move your ass. I got-I got stuff to do.”

Pushing himself off the cement, Morty stiffly stood up. The aching joints in his body creaked and his feet practically felt like jelly from sitting in the same position all night. But Morty had to note that it still felt better than the time he had to sleep on a park bench for about a month.

He had half expected Rick to grab him and help steady him but the man just stared impatiently at him from under the rim of his blue glasses. And Morty guessed it was a good thing too because he would have probably rejected the help in a not so nice manner.

Because if Rick expected him to run back to him like a dog with its tail in betweens its leg he was about to be gravely mistaken.

Because Morty was a wolf with red stained teeth.

“Finally.” Rick groaned, pulling out his portal gun and creating a portal. Wordlessly, he stepped through it, not even looking back at Morty to see if he was following. Morty hid the small twinge of disappointment that flashed across his tired face with practised ease and stepped in after him.

Two seconds hadn't passed before they were back in the yard in front of the other Ricks house.

Mortys eyes trail to the inside the house, specifically its inhabitants, as shattered foggy memories return from last night. He can still feel the dried blood on his knuckles…

Had he knocked any teeth out?

The front door opens to reveal Ketic and his Rick on the living room couch. Both seemed to have been waiting for them to arrive. All that Morty can focus on is the bruises and stupid bandages covering Ketics jaw as his feet automatically draw him forward.

His stomach was twisting into knots but Morty felt like he was floating on air.

The apology that tumbled out of his mouth felt robotic… Cross that, it was robotic. There was not much emotion left in him as Morty awkwardly held out his pale hand for the other to shake, his breath caught in his throat of the possible rejection.

Ketic flinched at Mortys movement.

As if he thought that he was going to hit him again.

Fingers twitching back to his side, Morty pretended to shrug it off and said something dismissive about the entire thing that was lost even to his own ears.

Something comedic is said about the situation. Something cliche, something expected. Something that doesn't even matter.

Ketic runs from the room like a deer flashing its white tail in danger.

Morty hears arguing.

And then Morty is thrown for a loop because the next second Rick is pushing him roughly through a portal. He stumbles over his feet when he reaches the other side, the fog in his brain abruptly lifted.

They… They are standing in a hotel?

Deeply confused, Morty looks up at Rick in hopes of an answer.

“Wow you really fucked up.” Rick chuckles, shaking his head like he had expected it of him.

Rick already has a key to a door and before Morty can question it, Rick is strolling into the room.

Feeling mentally exhausted Morty throws himself lazily on the one of the beds in the room. He wishes that he could get swallowed up by everything that he's feeling and just get snuffed out like a candle at the end of its wick.

Morty doesn't even mutter a word when a few seconds later the bed creak as someone else sits onto the opposite side of the bed.

On his bed.

A few seconds pass before Morty summons the effort to speak.

“Wha-What d-do you want Rick?”

It takes a few moments of silence before he receives an answer. But then again not even Morty knows what exactly he's asking. Rick is angry at him, angry that he got them both kicked out.

“I… I dont know.”

Morty draws out from where he had been hiding away at the seemingly truthful confession.

“Well you could start with apologizing for being such an overprotective and selfish jerk.” Morty snaps, anger suddenly erupting from him like a pot left to boil too long. How dare Rick try to play a pity card! How dare he act like Morty has fucking hurt him when it was the other way around!

Morty is suddenly furious.

“I know I fucked up! I am a fuck up Rick!” Morty shouts, hands clenched into fists at his sides, “I fuck up and I fuck up and I fuck up!”

He feels like a kid throwing a random tantrum but Morty cant put his emotions into words for Rick to understand. And fuck hes still is a goddamn kid! He's still a fucking kid so why is he having to deal with this!

Why couldn't he have just not been born?

The anger abruptly evaporates at that thought. And the numbness from before is beginning to creep back and cloak Rick in a veil of fog. Morty wants so badly to give in to the feeling as he slowly lays back down on the bed, wanting to stay there forever.

…

…

…

_He wants so badly to give in._

That's Mortys last thought before he slips into a much needed sleep. 


	20. Chickenpox

Mortys head reels as he begins to wake up.

 

He can't remember anything from yesterday… 

 

Looking around blindly in the dark, Morty doesn't immediately recognize his surroundings.

 

His numb hand fumbles for his phone on his nightstand.

 

The only thing on the desk is a pair of glasses.

 

A seed of panic begins to well up in his throat, sinking to the bottom of his stomach faster then any brick could. 

Mind in overdrive, Morty whips the blankets off him, wondering disorientedly where the fuck he had managed to end up this time. 

His third eye catches the sight of another lump on his bed, which would have been perfectly fine… except for the blue strands of hair poking out above the blankets. 

_ Blue _ strands. 

He lunges on top of the Rick before he realizes what he's doing, pinning both his arms down with his knees as fingers instinctively dig into the soft unprotected throat presented to him. The Rick lets out a choked startled noise as Morty tightens his grip, shoving the taller man into the bed. 

And Morty can't think beside the urge to end him. 

It's only when the Rick wiggles a hand free and grabs the back of his head by his hair, successfully getting Morty to let go, does Morty start to have second thoughts. 

A light is suddenly turned on, and the small room floods with light. 

Rick,  _ his  _ Rick, three eyed Rick is crouched over the side of the bed, wheezing, pale and looking about ready to throw up everywhere.

“What the fuck Morty!” He yells but the fire in his voice isn't there (and if Morty dares) he’d admit that there's even a little bit of fear. 

Morty stares blankly at the bruises darkening on the others throat. 

His freaks, hands shaking at his side. 

“Shi-Shi-Shit fuck R-Rick, I’m so-so-so-so sorry,” The words stumble from Mortys mouth faster then he can speak, “How-How bad did I-I-I hurt you-you? F-Fuck… Can I-I-I see? Ric-Rick fuck im so-so-so-so sorry!” Morty feels weak, helpless, as Rick stands up and moves to the bathroom so he can look at his neck in the mirror.

Rick swallows loudly, distractedly pushing Morty away with one hand as he tenderly rubs his discolored throat.

The man's voice is hoarse when he finally responds.  “I’m… I’m fine Morty. It's going to take a lot more than that to do me in.” Rick tries to laugh about it but they both know otherwise. 

“Fu-Fuck Rick, Its-Its already turning b-b-black and blue.” Morty sucks in a regretful breath as he reaches a hand up to touch his neck. Rick quickly slaps it away, still breathing heavily from the whole overdeal. 

“Are we going to have to take you to a hospital?” Morty wonders aloud. Ricks breathing and showing no signs that he needs it but Mortys anxiety says otherwise.  _ Who knows how much internal damage could be there? Or what if in a half hour he suddenly kneels over and stops breath- _

“Can u get me my glasses?” Rick finally groans. Morty faithfully and silently goes over and hands them to Rick. 

They both remain quiet as Rick puts them on. He examines himself in the mirror for a few minutes before turning to Morty. His face is tight, unibrow drawing drawnwards.

“Wh-What happened Morty?” 

His stomach flip-flops. Mortys third eye drops to the floor, “I… Uh…” 

_How could he possibly answer that question?_ _He doesn't even know the answer…_

“I… I uhhh had a… a bad dream.” Morty bites his lip, relishing in the distraction.  

Rick lets out a bark of disbelief, “Bad dream! Seemed more like a nightmare.” 

“Yeah.” Morty chuckles uneasy in agreement, looking around. Now that the lights are on he can tell from the furniture and style that there in a hotel on earth. 

He wished that he had noticed sooner. 

Ricks gaze is drawn to the window, and for a grateful second Morty thinks that he isn't going to push for an answer, but then he opens his mouth. 

“I call bullshit.” He levels his blue eyes at Mortys brown ones. “You strangled me because of a bad dream? Mortys are such bad liars.” 

Morty opens his mouth to reply but the words disappear as soon as he does, dying on his tongue. 

“Well?” 

Rick has his hands on his hips and is looking expectantly at Morty now. 

It bursts out of Morty before hecan stop it. 

“I… I… I…. I can’t do this anymore Rick!” His whisper quickly gains momentum, transforming into a full out shout. 

“I can't take the insomnia! The stress! Just every fucking thing! I don't want to be here yet im f-forced to because I don't want to die!” 

Mortys face drops, the weight of what he's said beginning to dawn on him. He opens his mouth to scream some,more or apologies (he'll never know) because the next second he's being pulled into a hug. 

“I’m sorry.” 

That's all that Ricks says. No promises. No excuses. Yet it seems to lift the veil of darkness covering Mortys thoughts. 

Morty hugs him back, tighter, afraid of when hell let go.  

Minutes pass before the silence is broken. 

“Thanks, I needed that.” Rick chimes, the hands clenching Mortys shirt unconsciously tightening. “The wakeup call… Not the other part.”

Morty nuzzles his head into the crook of Ricks arm, digging his nose into his lab coat which smells of chemicals and faintly of smoke, smells  _ familiar _ . The abrupt rush of memories almost causes Morty to pull away but he knows that this is a different Rick.

“Shit, I am too attached.” Rick hisses under his breath, barely a whisper in the dim room. 

Morty sits up a little straighter, “The-Ther-There is nothing wrong with being attached to someone Rick. Its-Its-Its a part of human nature.” 

“True,” Rick tuts emotionlessly, though the man looks like he disagrees. 

_ They have such a fucked up relationship.  _

“Wh-Wh-What's got you s-so anxious?” Morty looks over at Rick who has began to tap his fingers against Mortys shirt in a chaotic rhythmless beat.

“I… I… D-Don't worry about it.” The hope dies in Mortys eyes. For a second he had  _ actually  _ thought that Rick was going to open up more to him. 

“Why won't you te-tell me Rick?” 

“Because I don't think that you want to hear it.” 

Morty tightens his grip on Ricks lab coat, “I can handle it, trust me.” 

Rick pauses, analyzing Morty for a few seconds before he finally sighs. 

“I don't think you realize how dangerous this situation is.” Ricks eyes grow dark, “Sherty flurp isn't just any alien. She's like the last boss at the end of a video game on hard mode. She could find us anytime and… and… do you know how many ways you can torture someone without killing them?” 

Ricks eyes cloud as he glances away. 

“A lot.” Morty solemnly whispers, third eye drawing down to his shirt. If only Rick knew what kind of scars laid under the thing and the fucked up shit he's seen witnessed to not strangers but people he had considered his friends. 

What kind of fucked up shit has Rick seen? Morty could only imagine. 

They were too similar. 

Morty curls up closer to Rick, relaxing against the older man. He wants to grab his hand, but forces himself not to. 

“Hey you feeling better?” Rick asks tentatively, his breath tickling the back of Mortys neck. The mans breath is hot and the sensation feels weirdly tingly.  Morty nods. 

“Well enough to eat?” 

Morty mumbles, “Yeah, I am so hungry after you mentioned about the possibilities of being tortured and how were probably going to end up dying.” 

“True.” Rick chuckles but for once doesn't push the subject any further. 


	21. Angst, just angst

“MMMorty.”

Rick hisses under his breath. “Stop acting so fucking un-Mortyish.”

Then a few seconds later, Rick adds in a more softer tone.   
“We went over this remember?”

Ricks and Mortys were beginning to stare at them.

“I’m fucking trying.” Morty hisses right back, barely audible. He has to actively force his shoulders to untense and instead hunch forward in a more timid nature. Has to remind himself that this far into the mission it's unlikely (unless he keeps messing up) that a fight will occur. Morty bites his lip.

Fists slowly unclenching from his sides, he falls behind Rick as they trek through the place where Rick used to work. Something to do with labs or some other shit he didn't care too much about.

Other Rick and Morty's blur by them, along with offices and desks and whiteboards scribbled on with almost indistinguishable handwriting. All the stuff one would imagine would be in a workplace.

But Morty can't help that he's in a new place and that his body is on full alert. Ready to fight for his life at a moments notice. And Morty's can't help that he's doing it unconsciously.

Normal. They need to look normal.

Rick suddenly checks the watch on his hand, visibly stiffening at the time. He utters a curse in some foreign alien language that Morty definitely knows before grabbing him by the wrist and practically dragging him forward.

All part of the plan.

Morty tries not to focus on how Ricks fingernails dig into his skin and how much he wants it to stop. And the fact that Rick doesn't have his glasses doesn't help.

All part of the plan.

Morty stumbles along. It's too soon when a minute later they arrive at the last security checkpoint.

Morty knows the fake ID that Rick made has already worked in fooling the other Rick guards and their security scanners but it doesn't stop his breath from catching in his throat when Rick waves it hurriedly in front of the guard ps face.

The guard says something to Rick. Something Morty doesn't quite catch but Rick seems to handle it flawlessly. Bored, the guard waves a scanner at both of them and Morty tries to lessen his shaking hands. The light on the scanner turns green before the guard hands back Ricks ID.

Now for the most important part… Getting past the security detector.

If they have any substance or weapon deemed illegal by the Citadel of Ricks, it'll go off and they'll have hell to face. They could possible go to jail. Go to trial.

Its ironically the same machine that Rick spent so much time in his living room making.

Rick was the one who had all the illegal items hidden on him, ranging from mini bombs to screwdrivers. All under his clothes specially designed to stop the machines electromagnetic rays from passing through it and reading it or some shit like that. Rick had said it would fool the machine, and the man made the security detector so it would probably work.

Probably.

They needed all those things to break into the lab to grab something that Rick said could actually kill shertyupl. Permanently.

The guard then tells them to empty their pockets before allowing Rick to go through the huge metal detector type of machine that fits perfectly in the doorway. Beyond it Morty can see racks of vials and scientific tools that Morty didn't care to know the name of. Rick probably knew though.

Morty finds himself holding his breath as Rick passes under the detection machine. He waits impatiently for the telltale alarm to suddenly go off.

…

But it doesn't.

Taking a huge breath of relief, Morty eagerly follows Rick through.   
Hes most of the way through when-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UNREGISTERED PORTAL GUN AT ENTRANCE 3A67. FORMLY REGISTERED TO DECEASED RICK B345. POLICE ARE ON THEIR-

Heart going from 60 to 180 beats per minute, Morty feels like he's going to pass out.

The Rick guard to their right immediately straightens, looking shocked at Morty like he hadn't expected this turn of events before his face hardens. And then Morty is staring at the end of a gun barrel.

“Give up now or we will have to physically-”

Grabbing the gun, Rick slams it up and out of the guards hands. It fires as it goes flying but hits the wall a feet from Mortys head.

“Dont fucking stand there Morty! I thought you were supposed to be good at these situations!” Rick yells as he tackles the guard.

Limbs finally remembering how to work, Morty rushes over to Rick and knocks the outnumbered and outskilled guy unconscious with a swift hit to the head with the butt of his own gun.

More guards rush over and its Mortys turn to react swiftly by shoving them both under a nearby desk. The alarm is louder now and Morty has to yell in order to hear himself.

“Rick, w-what do we do!” Morty looks around him wildly, unable to think, the guards gun still in his hand.

There's too many of them. And if they teleport they will just be followed. Morty could run himself but doubts Ricks stamina. The two of them can't possibly…

He doesn't receive an answer.

Turning his head, Morty finds himself wishing he had sooner.

Ricks lab coat is no longer white but blossoming with ruby swirls that is getting bigger and bigger. Crimson stained hands are wrapped around Ricks stomach as the man just stares blankly at the wound.

Blood.

A lot of blood.

“He had a fuc-fucking knife on him.” Rick stutters, wheezing. His face is turning white. The simple sentence seems to have taken a lot of effort because Rick is now leaning heavily against Morty.

His eyes flutter shut and it takes Morty a good five seconds before he realizes that Rick just passed out.

Panicking, adrenaline rushing through his body and giving Morty strength he didn't know he had, Morty manages to heave Rick up with one arm and rip off the end of his shirt with the other. Quickly he makes a makeshift bandage and wraps it as tight as he can around the man's bloody chest.

It's not enough, and Morty knows it but there's no time.

Pushing the thought about how limp Rick feels in his arms, Morty ducks under the cover of a desk. Papers fly dramatically off the desk as bullets rain around them, some embitting themselves into the desk and splintering the wood apart.

It won't last long.

Muttering a silent sorry Morty shoots a portal on the ground in front of him, back to their hotel, before shoving Rick into it.

They want him. They won't go after Rick.

Both arms free now, Morty grasps his gun in one hand and the portal gun in the other. Its battery is at half full but its more than enough to lose the Rick guards chasing him. He's been to so many universes and knows all the back alleyways, that it'll be a piece of cake.

Hoping the fall into the hotel room woke Rick up and that he's patching himself up at the moment, Morty opens up a green portal. 


	22. Drunken Little Kid, How Sad

Mortys eyes are trained outside of the window of the small hotel room.

He can feel the chest next to him steadily rising up and down and the raspy breaths coming from the sleeping man laying oblivious next to him. Barely managing to keep the almost empty bottle in his hand, Morty presses further into Ricks side.

He wants the warmth of the man laying next to him to slip out and crawl inside the empty cold ache settling in his chest. But the wishing changes nothing. Nor has it ever.

Mortys mind reels. Why does it always come to this?

The sun is just beginning to rise, and while sunrises are supposed to be a colorful array of dazzling colors this one is dull, bland… boring even.

Yet Morty finds himself infatuated with it.

Having lost all sense of time, Rick finally slowly begins to stir and is the first to actually slip out of the bed with a groan. Butterflies flutter around in Mortys chest as Rick fumbles around on the nightstand looking blindingly for his glasses. Acid crawls up his throat, making him want to throw up.

Morty only turns over to face Rick when he's sure the man has his glasses on.

“Morty?” Rick's voice is soft, careful.

It sounds so far away.

“Yeaaaah Rick?” Morty slurs, throwing his head back. The man's eyebrows tilt downwards as he catches glimpses of the mess of empty bottles decorating the hotel rooms floor and the one in Mortys hand.

Rick readjusts his glasses, peering sharply at the boy in front of him. “Did you even get any fucking sleep?”

With a shaky nod, Mortys eyes rest on Rick's shirt. “How's y-your… injury?”

Stiffly -in pain- Rick lifts up his shirt. He curses loudly when he sees the bandages are stained red again. “I swear that I just fucking changed these. And the pain pills I have are starting to wear off.” Ricks red tinged eyes trail to Morty.

“You better be so fucking glad that I sewed myself up, that I fucking knew how, while fucking bleeding out nonetheless while you went out and got drunk.”

Morty shrugs. “I was aaaaaactually running for my life. Thank you mery much. I-I-I came to check on you first… then I started drinking.” Morty corrects, biting his lip. He then downs the last of the bottle, enjoying the burning liquid trailing down his esophagus.

Rick holds up a hand, “Wait before we start this shit again, let me go get fucking cleaned up.”

The bed creaks as Rick stands up and he disappears into the bathroom for a while. When he comes out he has a new shirt on and has even brushed his teeth if the minty smell coming off him is anything to go by. It's like nothing happened.

Going for the drawer of the hotels small dresser, Rick lifts up the portal gun so Morty can see it from where hes still lying on the bed.

“I don’t want another depressing ass conversation so you wanna go someplace fun?” There's a wicked gleam in Ricks eyes and he flashes Morty that rare genuine smile that actually manages to reach his eyes.

Mortys eyes narrow so you can barely see the brown of his iris. “What about the alien trying to kill us Rick ever think of dat? You know… the one trying ta kill us?” His voice comes out more tight then he meant.

“You didn't answer my question Morty.” Rick rolls his eyes.

Morty drops the empty bottle with an exaggerated shake of his head. “I’m too wasted Rick.” Shoving himself off the bed to prove his point, the ground under Morty sways but he manages to keep his balance. Too much practice.

Growling under his breath, Rick tells Morty to sit back down. “Okay, fine.” Rick rubs his eyes, pocketing the portal gun. “How about we talk and then we go on an adventure?”

“Talk?” Morty gives Rick an odd look. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Rick coughs like he's trying to clear his throat. Hand rubbing the back of his neck, Morty misses the hesitance in the older man's posture. “How many?”

“How many of vvhat?” Morty tilts his head, throwing his arms out so he's sprawled across the entire rickety bed. He watches the fan go round and around on the ceiling. “Gotta be more specifick than that.”

“How… How many people have you killed?”

“Oh…” Morty blinks. “I-I lost count a while ago.”

“Morty.” Rick is staring at him again. It makes Morty feel uncomfortable, like Rick can see the stains on his soul, so he doesn't look over. Rubbing his hands against the soft blankets under him, Morty lets out a small laugh. It’s so soft.

“Morty.” Ricks eyes flicker worryingly at him, “We gotta stop having these fucking talks only when your drunk.”

“I c-can't help it.”

“Your like fucking twelve.”

“S-S-So?”

“Twelve year olds shouldn't be drinking. Your too young to have so much on your plate that you feel the need the need to numb yourself.” Rick is glaring at him. Morty doesn't even need to look at him to know.

“Sothenwhat am I su-suppose-ed to do then? Fucking f-f-f-forget my past?” Morty drawls and finally turns so he can look at Rick, a confident smirk on his face.

They stare at each other. Ricks stern blue eyes boring holes in Mortys brown ones.

…

Rick is the first to cave. He lets out a defeated sigh, suddenly hunching over as if the entire world has landed on his shoulders as buries his face in his hands.

And in that moment Rick looks… broken.

“We haven't learned anything have we?” Rick's voice is soft and his words are eerily cryptic. And Mortys too far gone to grasp what exactly he means.

“Yep.” Morty says, popping the ‘p’.

Rick shakes his head, “We need a new plan. Fuck, I don’t even know what to do now. But don't worry Morty we’ll… I’ll figure something out. We can do this. We can-” Rick starts rambling to himself.

“Can I see it?” Mortys reaching out to touch Ricks lab coat before he can catch himself.

Ricks reaction is miniscule but Mortys eyes catch the slight finch, the slight hesitation. And what hurts even worse is that Rick has every right to.

“I’m sworry… for whaever that's worth.”

Rick opens his mouth to speak but ultimately stops.

Desperate to redeem himself Morty pips up again, “I wa-was just so worried that you wouldn’t make it through I forgot that I always carry it on me and that morning I wasnt sure it would trigger the alarm but youdidntaskaboutitknowingthatIhaditsoIfigureditwasfine.”

“Wow fucking calm down. We’ll just have to find a different way to get Shetyrp Flurytu. We… We can figure out a new plan. We have time. Don’t worry Morty we still have time.”

Rick is the one to say it but neither of them really believe it.

They never go on that adventure. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited it. So many mistakes. But don't worry guys I'm back! And I will finish this even if it kills me :P


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